Big Time Break
by Blue Leah
Summary: After four years, the boy have earned a much needed break from the life of pop stardom. They have been given the chance for maturity, enlightenment, education, and all out recklessness. With each one discovering their own path will this spell the end of Big Time Rush? Canon ships with an emphasis on Jendall. Drama. Hurt/Comfort. Friendship.
1. Chapter 1

"The Palm Woods," the boys sighed standing in front of their beloved LA home. They had just returned from a three month tour and were excited to get back to their friends and…

"Pool!" Carlos squealed ready to run into the lobby and then to the pool area.

The other three boys followed him to the crowded outdoor area.

As soon as he stepped outside the lobby a heavy force knocked Logan down and began kissing him feverishly all over his face.

"I missed you, too, Camille," he greeted his girlfriend.

"How was the tour?" She asked not bothering to climb off Logan. He managed to sit up and leave her in his lap.

"Great," Kendall answered distracted.

"Gustavo brought his purple rocket everywhere," James said.

"He kissed it every night before we went on stage," Logan said.

"I think he might have slept with it, too," Carlos added.

"He would not let that thing out of his sight," Logan said.

"Yeah," Kendall added looking up and down the rows of lawn chairs.

"Kendall," Camille spoke up, "she's not here."

Kendall sighed. "We haven't seen each other in three months! You don't know what it's like being away from your girlfriend for that long!"

Camille kissed Logan's cheek. "I think I do."

"James got to see Lucy for a week in July," James smiled at the mention of the girl he had been trying to make his girlfriend for something like two and half years, "and Alexa popped in all the time with her spy stuff." Kendall scrunched his face.

"Hey, it's not our fault your girlfriend is a working actress and mine's," Carlos grinned, "mine!" He repeated. "I have a girlfriend! Anyway, don't get mad at us because your girlfriend isn't as cool as mine and can visit me whenever she wants," he paused. "Okay, maybe not whenever she wants, but a heck of a lot more than Jo."

"I'm not mad. I'm not mad. I'm just—"

"Jealous!" Carlos exclaimed jumping around. "Kendall is jealous of me!" He shouted out to the entirety of the pool area like he'd just won the lottery.

After taking one more glance around the pool area, Kendall spoke, "I'm going to head up to the apartment." He remembered the luggage they had left in front of the long-term stay hotel.

Carlos's eyes lit up when he realized what this meant.

"Swirly!" He exclaimed upon entering 2J. After having ran all the way from the pool, forgetting his luggage, and almost deciding on taking the stairs instead of the elevator, he patted his helmet, climbed the ladder, and…

"Woo-hoo!" He slid down head first landing on his stomach at the bottom of his favorite yellow slide.

"No, no, we don't need any help," Kendall grumbled as the other three slowly stepped into the room trying not to drop suitcases and duffel bags.

James dropped his bags and joined his Hispanic friend, going down feet first and kicking him in the butt.

"Oof!" Carlos released.

"Boys!" Mrs. Knight stepped into the room.

"Mama Knight!" Carlos and James jumped up from the slide.

"How was the tour?" She squeezed the boys into a five person hug. "We missed you so much."

"Looks like someone didn't do too much missing, _Baby Sis_." Kendall nodded his head in the direction of the brunette on the orange couch quickly typing away on her cell phone.

"Yeah, yeah, welcome home," she replied nonchalantly.

"It's all your fault," Mrs. Knight said. "She and Austin exchanged numbers at the party and she's been texting him non-stop ever since."

"You're not stalking him, are you?" Kendall asked at the same time as James and Carlos started singing "Katie and Austin sitting in a tree…"

"No." A slight blush spread across her cheeks.

Before he could respond, Kendall's phone beeped. He quickly pulled it out of his front pocket and read the message hoping it was a clue as to where Jo was.

"Dogs, Griffin wants to see you at the studio bright and early tomorrow morning. Don't be late! – Gustavo"

James and Carlos groaned.

"We just returned home. Don't we deserve a break?" Logan whined.

That's how the boys found themselves back in Rocque Records the next morning standing in front of Gustavo, Kelly, and Griffin, two of whom they'd just got done taking a three month tour with.

"Welcome home, boys," Griffin greeted them. "You've just returned from a very successful tour making me lots of money. You won a purple rocket at the Tween Choice Awards. Your third album has gone double platinum. I have become the greatest CEO in the world."

Kendall sighed audibly. Was this why they were brought to the studio? To hear Griffin brag about all their and his achievements over the past few months? He'd much rather be sitting at the Palm Woods pool reintroducing himself with his girlfriend, Jo, whom he had not seen hide nor hair of the day before.

"What was that, Kendall?" Gustavo barked.

"Nothing," Kendall muttered.

"He misses his girlfriend," Carlos stated.

"You'll get all the time to spend with your girlfriend," Griffin said causing the boys to share a look. "I'm giving you all a well-earned break. I recently bought a cabin in the Colorado Mountains and you boys will be the first occupants. Get away from the hectic rush of Los Angeles and take this time to recuperate so you can come back and make daddy more money." He nodded at them and walked out of the room.

"Dogs, Griffin is being incredibly generous here so DON'T MESS THIS UP!" Gustavo bellowed. He pulled the rocket out of his hoodie pocket and kissed it. "This isn't just some weekend in the Rockies. Griffin wants you dogs to rest until the end of the year."

"The end of the year?" Kelly asked. Apparently this was news to her, too.

"Yes, the end of the year. When we return we will start working on your fourth album."


	2. Chapter 2

Taking a break from their packing since Griffin had purchased them plane tickets for the end of the week, the boys ended up relaxing in their favorite spot by the pool.

"Are you really moving out of the Palm Woods?" Camille asked.

"No, no, this is just temporary," Logan assured her. With his right arm wrapped around her, he squeezed her shoulder.

"Mom and Katie are staying here," Kendall said. "She still has school."

"We'll be back in 2J before we know it," Carlos added.

The boys stopped talking when a female figure walked over to them and handed James a bottle of sunblock. He patted the spot in front of him where she sat down and he squirted lotion in his hand. Kendall made a face because the girl was Sunblock Girl and not Jo.

"Ahem," Logan cleared his throat loudly. When James did not respond Logan cleared his throat louder.

"What?!"

"Lucy," was all Logan had to say.

"Lucy? Oh, right, Lucy!" James quickly wiped his hands on his shorts. "Sorry."

Sunblock Girl gave him a wistful smile, grabbed her bottle, and walked away.

"Does this mean I can't flirt with other girls?"

"Not if you want to keep dating Lucy," Kendall answered.

"Darn it!" It was a known fact that James Diamond loved flirting with girls but being that he was in like with Lucy Stone and she was in like with him he was not going to do anything to ruin that relationship.

"Kendall Knight, is that you?"

Kendall jerked his head to the right.

"I'd almost forgotten what you looked like!" She winked running to him.

"Hey, wonderin' where you were." Kendall quickly kissed Jo on the lips as she scooted next to him in the lounge chair.

"I know, I know you were coming home yesterday but I got caught up with filming and interviews and it was just too late when I returned. I really really wanted to see you. I missed you so much. But, it was too late and…"

"It's okay," Kendall cut her off. "We're together now."

"Not for long," Camille muttered.

"What?" Jo asked sending confused looks between Kendall and Camille. "Did something happen on the tour? D-did you meet another girl? Not Lu—"

"Lucy's mine!" James interrupted quickly.

"It's nothing like that. Um, Griffin wants us to go on a break. He's sending us to Colorado."

Jo smiled. "What's wrong with that? Sounds like fun."

"Yeah," Kendall rubbed the back of his neck. "He's sending us there for almost five months."

"Oh."

Kendall squeezed Jo close to him.

"You can visit whenever you want."

She smiled half-heartedly.

"That's great, but I'm pretty busy here."

"I can visit whenever I want."

"Why don't you just stay here? You don't _have_ to go, do you? You just got home!"

Kendall looked at the ground. Technically, he guessed he didn't have to go. It wasn't like a concert tour or interviews or something. But, it was Griffin. He was basically in charge of this group's future. It wasn't the same as defying Gustavo. Kendall knew Gustavo and knew what buttons to push. Was he afraid of Griffin? Kendall Knight afraid of Arthur Griffin? Ha! He'd laugh in the face of anyone who suggested it.

Besides, he was looking forward to Colorado. It wasn't Minnesota, but it was close. Getting away from the plasticness of Hollywood would be a good thing, time to relax and be himself with his three best buds by his side, time off to not have to get up before the crack of dawn, practice harmonies, record, dance, and just generally be on the clock.

"You _want_ to go?!" Jo jumped up.

"I don't want to leave you."

"Yeah, well, maybe I want you to go." And with that Jo stormed off back into the Palm Woods.

"This will be good for you," Camille said to Logan on Friday morning. She sat with him on the orange couch in 2J holding his hand. "I'll miss you, like I always do, but you guys need the break. You've been working non-stop for four years." She ran a hand through Logan's hair.

"Thanks, Camille. I'll miss you, too."

"I'll come down and visit when I have time off. You know I will."

Logan was about to respond when Carlos blubbered, "Swirly!" He patted the yellow slide. "I wish we could take you with us."

"I'll keep him company, Carlos," Katie said sliding down to the first level. For the first time since the boys returned home she was not busy texting on her cell.

"Her," Carlos corrected.

Katie rolled her eyes.

"All your bags packed?" Mrs. Knight asked appearing in the kitchen.

"Yes," Carlos and Logan replied.

"Almost," Kendall called from his bedroom.

"No," James cried from the bathroom.

"Honey, if you forget anything we can send it to you," Mrs. Knight reassured.

"James, they have stores in Colorado," Logan added.

"I just need to find a bag for these." James walked out with an armful of Cuda products.

"Use the bag you used for the tour," Logan said.

"Carlos took it!" James whined.

"Carlos!" Logan scolded.

"I needed it!"

"We'll find you a new bag." Mrs. Knight ushered James to his bedroom. "Kendall, we need to leave in fifteen!"

"Coming!" He walked out of his room with a duffel bag on one shoulder, his guitar on another, pulling a rolling suitcase behind him.

He dropped them in with the three duffel bags, laptop case, and two rolling suitcases. The only things missing from the pile was James's stuff.

"Who's got the extra duffel bag?" Kendall eyed Carlos.

"We can afford it," he mumbled.

Roughly ten minutes later Mrs. Knight and James hurried out of his bedroom with his duffel bag, a very feminine plaid rather large makeup bag, and his rolling suitcase which was much larger than the others.

"Ready?" Mrs. Knight asked.

Katie, who had been strong this entire time while taking turns sliding down Swirly with Carlos, ran over and wrapped her arms around Kendall.

"I'm going to miss you, Big Brother!"

"I'll miss you, too, Baby Sis, but you'll come visit. I think Mom's already got something planned for the end of the month." He patted her back.

Mrs. Knight opened the door to a Jo poised to knock.

"Kendall."

"Jo."

Neither had spoken since their fight earlier in the week. It was easy to avoid each other with Jo being busy with filming for a new made-for-TV movie and Kendall having to pack for a five month trip.

"We'll just go take this stuff down to the car," Mrs. Knight said motioning for the other boys to follow her.

"I must be going, too," Camille said. She followed Logan to the door and then slapped him hard across the face. "That's for leaving me for five months." She then just as passionately kissed him on the lips. "And that's because I love you."

Logan gave Kendall a drunken look before being dragged out the door and having a bag shoved into his hands.

"I'm sorry," Jo said as soon as the group disappeared down the hall. "I don't want you to go, but," she paused. "I talked to Camille and she, um, made sense. You guys do need the break. I'll have my time off and can come visit you. It's not like you're going to the end of the world."

"Jo, I love you. I don't want to hurt you."

Jo shook her head.

"I don't want to hurt you and I don't want you to leave mad at me. I was being selfish. What can I expect? I did this you, once."

Kendall nodded his head slowly remembering the time Jo left for an acting job in New Zealand that was supposed to be for three years but lasted not even half that long.

"We're not breaking up this time. You're not going to be replaced by any girl."

"And you're not going to be replaced by any guy."

"Good." Kendall smiled. He tipped up Jo's chin with his right index finger and laid his lips softly on hers. He didn't want this moment to end, but there was a part of him that couldn't wait to get to Colorado.

* * *

**Switched Australia to New Zealand as it should be.**


	3. Chapter 3

The boys stood wordlessly in front of the cabin, no, mansion, in front of them. This was going to be their home for the next five months.

"I can't believe we get to stay here." Carlos, finally breaking the silence, bounded up the steps to the front door. "This whole place is ours."

"It's Griffin's," Kendall reminded. "So, let's be careful."

"He's letting us stay here. He should know what he's getting." James followed Carlos.

Logan shook his head.

Kendall had the key so to satisfy his "brothers" he walked up the steps and unlocked the front door with Logan following behind. He remembered the last time they had the opportunity to stay in a mansion. They turned it down missing their friends at the Palm Woods. The difference here was that they knew they would be going back to them. This wasn't permanent and they weren't going to become Bel-Airheads. They could just simply enjoy their time away.

"You know what the best part of this is?" Carlos asked.

James looked at him.

"No Adults!" They shouted simultaneously.

"Well, technically, we're adults," Logan said. "In age, not maturity," he said to himself.

Kendall whipped out his cell phone and texted his mom the message they had arrived at the cabin. She was very worried about the boys being on their own like this, but with a lot of discussion Kendall, James, Carlos, and Logan were able to assure that they could handle it. As Logan said, "If we didn't have Big Time Rush we'd be moving into dorm rooms on a college campus anyway." Kendall probably should have called her instead of texting, but there was someone else he'd rather talk to.

"We're here," he said when Jo answered the phone on the other end.

"Good thing you caught me during a break. I don't have long to talk. How is it?"

"A-maz-ing. Well, actually, I can't really say that since I've only seen the foyer. I'll have to send you pictures."

"You do that."

"Jo, are you okay?"

"Just tired. Jett and I had to do 85 takes on our kissing scene today. Remind you of anything?"

"Jett Stetton?"

"Yes, Jett Stetton. Do you know any other Jett? The producers of this movie liked the idea of a New Town High Reunion. I quote them 'Rachel and Drake are back together again.'"

"Why did you keep this a secret? This isn't a New Town High movie is it?"

"I don't think that would quite be possible with the horrible accident that killed my character so I could get out of my contract. And I didn't keep this a secret. I texted you on the first day of filming. Look, you know I have no feelings toward Jett and he has none toward me."

"Not you in particular but the fact that you're his costar _again_?"

"Kendall, you trust me, right?"

"Yes," he sighed. "I do."

"Good. I trust you, too. I have to go now. Talk to you later."

"Okay and NO KISSING JETT!"

"Goodbye, Kendall!"

"I'm looking into it as soon as I get off the phone with you," Kendall heard Logan say after he hung up his phone and placed it back in his pocket. He wondered what Logan was going to look into. "It's too late for that, though." Too late for what? Kendall shook his head. He really shouldn't be eavesdropping on one of his best friends' conversations, especially one he was probably having with Camille. "But, CSU is 2 hours away."

_CSU?_ _CSU? Is Logan thinking about going to college?_

"Isn't this supposed to be our break?" Kendall blurted out.

"On the phone," Logan mouthed.

"I'll start getting our stuff out of the car."

Logan nodded turning his back on Kendall and absorbing himself in his conversation.

"Carlos?" Kendall called out.

"On the phone with Alexa," he called back from somewhere else in the house, probably the kitchen or the living room.

"James?"

"Lucy!"

Kendall rolled his eyes.

"I guess I'll do it myself," he muttered to himself.

Griffin had purchased a silver (or as he had repeatedly told the boys "Tungsten Pearl") Lexus GX 460, which is their medium sized SUV for those who couldn't tell that just by looking at the name. It was to be his Colorado vehicle and was sitting at the airport waiting for Big Time Rush's arrival. Kendall was very surprised that he was letting them be the first to drive his new car. Looking at the mileage already on the SUV they weren't the first to drive it, but from what Kendall could guess Griffin only drove it for a short time while purchasing the cabin. Without this luxury, they would either have had to rent a car for five months or go with public transportation only.

It took more than a few trips, but eventually Kendall had all the bags, his guitar, and Logan's laptop out of the SUV and into the foyer of the house. No one had claimed any rooms so he didn't know what else to do with the bags.

Leaving the foyer he stepped into the living room where James was lounging on the brown leather couch chatting away on his phone like a teenage girl. Kendall gave a slight wave and then headed toward the wooden staircase.

On the second floor were the bedrooms, six in all, and each had its own bathroom. Well, actually bedrooms five and six shared a bathroom. Kendall wanted to look at all the rooms before he made a decision on which one he chose. He would get to choose since he thought none of the other boys had made their way upstairs. They were too busy talking to their girlfriends. Well, he would have been, too, if she wasn't busy filming. So, he couldn't blame them.

He stepped into the first bedroom and literally bumped into…

"Logan!"

"Oh, hey."

"Thanks for helping with the luggage."

"Is that what you were doing?"

Seriously? Kendall pulled a face. He noticed the boy was no longer on the phone.

"So, what's this about CSU?"  
"CSU?" Logan looked confused. "Were you eavesdropping on my _private _conversation with Camille?"

Kendall rolled his eyes.

"Oh please, you're not that interesting." He didn't know why he was so snippy with his brainy best friend. Maybe traveling made him grumpy. "You're thinking of going to college?"

"Yeah, I'm thinking about it."

"This is our break. Y'know, time to relax."

"Yeah, and? Studying and education is my way of relaxing."

"You're weird," Kendall muttered under his breath.

"You just call me weird?" Logan looked ready to attack.

"Um, I think we're both a little loopy and need to rest." As he walked out of the room he added to himself, "I am so not picking that room."

* * *

**Thanks to the anonymous review that I was not able to send thanks to via PM (Log in if you want a reply. I do think it's polite to send one). I have this story roughly (and by roughly I mean only the broadest of details) planned out, but I will take suggestions to keep things going. I like to keep things a surprise so I'm not going to say whether I will be putting any suggestion into my story. If you have a suggestion don't be afraid to voice it. If I don't use it, it may spark something else to help the story. I write for me, but I also write for the readers.**

**Oh, hey, I think this is funny. I'm reading _Safe Have_n by Nicholas Sparks (have not seen the movie) and the two main adult female characters are named Katie and Jo! Too bad there's not a Jennifer and we'd have the most important women in Kendall's life. The story is set in NC. The book Jo is originally from there and has moved back home. Our Jo moved to LA from NC. I just find it funny.**

**OK, now I want ten reviews before I update again!**

**;) Just kidding. I don't ask for that. I don't want anyone to feel forced to review. Review if you feel like it. Don't review if you don't feel like it. I'll update as soon as I get the next chapter finished whether I have 1000 reviews for this chapter or 0 and whether 1000 people have read this chapter or 0 have.**


	4. Chapter 4

The boys had been in Colorado for about a week. Logan had registered for classes with Aspen State University. It was too late to register as a new student, but he was able to sign up for two separate classes via this program they had for guests.

That's how he found himself inside Room 232 of McEzra Hall at 12:25 PM on the second Tuesday of his five month trip. Excitedly and for an unknown reason a bit nervously, he climbed the risers of the lecture hall and chose a seat in the back. Usually, he liked sitting up front, but he thought this might make him less noticeable to the other students, especially any screaming teenage girls taking this Biology course. It also helped, he hoped, that he was wearing a black baseball cap. He thought about sunglasses, but inside a dark classroom he might look more suspicious. Plus, he wouldn't be able to see well.

"Hello." A blonde girl with wide set blue eyes sat down in the desk next to Logan. "You're not saving this for anyone?"

Logan shook his head. None of his other friends would be caught dead in a classroom when they were on a mandatory break. They actually thought he was crazy for the two classes he was taking. Of course, he was used to that. He wasn't known as the Big Time Brain for nothing. Also, he had dreams of becoming a doctor one day. Any time he could use to take classes toward that goal he would. A part of him wished he could skip college and go right on to that med degree, but a life lesson pointed out to him that wasn't the best idea.

"I'm Alicia," she introduced herself after pulling out a small black tablet pc from her backpack.

"Camille," he choked out.

"Your name's Camille? I thought that was a…"

"Logan," he quickly interrupted. "I'm Logan."

"Oh my god, you are! You're Logan from—"

He immediately clasped a hand over her mouth. Boy, did he regret giving that girl his name. Well, he wouldn't make that mistake again.

"Don't say it!"

"Big Time Rush," she whispered when he removed his hand from her mouth. "My sister's a fan."

"And you're not?" He asked surprised.

"I prefer rock music," she stated nonchalantly.

"Our music rocks. Have you ever heard 'Paralyzed'?"

Alicia laughed.

"Adding one song that kind of sort of rocks to your repertoire does not a rock band make."

Logan opened his mouth to reply something about not being Kendall who got pissed when people told him his music didn't rock when the professor stood in front of the class and began speaking.

"Welcome to Introduction to Biology. I am Mr. King, your professor. I will now call roll to make sure you are all enrolled in my class. This will not become an everyday activity. However, do not use that idea to skip class. Missing any of my classes will most definitely result in a failing grade on the tests." He turned on the overhead projector standing in front of him. "While I do that begin copying these notes."

Alicia pulled out a black stylus and began scribbling away on her tablet. Logan looked on with a bit of jealousy. He had pulled out his laptop and was waiting for it to finish booting up. If he had something like Alicia, that would be cool. He'd have to ask her about it after class.

"Logan Mitchell," Mr. King called out.

Logan quickly ducked his head and softly responded, "Here."

"Logan Mitchell?" Mr. King repeated.

"Here," Logan repeated louder. He could feel all the eyes on him. He knew the entire room was staring at him and that most of them, mostly the girls, were trying to figure out if he was in fact The Logan Mitchell from Big Time Rush.

Was attending college a mistake? He hadn't taken into account being a celebrity. People got excited upon seeing him in Los Angeles, but it wasn't the same as celebrities were a dime a dozen there. Elsewhere, even the upper class's winter playground, was a different story.

Logan took a deep breath and decided not to let it bother him. He was here to learn biology. If some girl decided to become a teeny bopper on him, he would, he would…well, he wasn't sure what he would do. He couldn't ignore her, could he? That would be hurtful.

Many celebrities had attended college; most recently he recalled hearing of that girl from _Harry Potter_, what's her name, Emma something or other, attending Brown University. The paparazzi had taken some pictures and some kids acted goofy, but overall he thought he'd heard she'd had a good time, so maybe it was possible for him. He knew it wouldn't be normal. Nothing after starting Big Time Rush was normal.

He looked up when an elbow nudged his left arm into his laptop.

"You okay?" Alicia whispered loudly. "You haven't moved an inch since the teacher called your name."

"Just thinking," he hissed back.

"'K well, you might wanna start taking notes."

Logan thought about hurrying out of the room as soon as class finished, but then he would just end up in the rush of students. It was best if he waited until the crowd thinned out. He was still afraid a rabid fan would recognize him. Someone else decided to wait with him.

"Are you, uh, living here on campus?" Alicia asked.

"I'm not really a student here," he admitted. "I'm just taking two classes as part of ASU's guest program. I didn't know I would be coming to Aspen until a couple of weeks ago." He really wanted to know why he was spilling his guts to this girl who really was just a stranger to him.

"Ah. I was a bit surprised my sister hadn't mentioned anything about you attending Aspen State. If it had been out there she would have found out. Trust me; she's your biggest fan."

_That's what they all say,_ Logan thought. Noticing most of the students were gone, Logan grabbed his bag and headed down the steps.

"I have calculus next," he said when he stepped outside McEzra Hall. Alicia had been following him so closely he wondered if she really did have a sister.

"Me, too!"

"Really?"

"No. That was my last class of the day. I'm not a genius like you. I know you're called The Big Time Brain."

"For someone who's not a fan…"

"You're my sister's favorite, okay? She talks about you all the time and when I say all the time I mean ALL the time. You're the Big Time Brain. You want to become a doctor. Your favorite color is black." Logan blushed. He hated talking about himself like this. He also wanted her to shut up in case someone else heard. "You lived in Texas before moving to Minnesota and meeting the other boys. My sister actually wanted us to go on vacation to Minnesota this summer so we could see where you used to live. You're dating a girl named Camille Roberts, whom my sister has decided to loath."

"That's too bad. Camille's a great girl."

"Of course you'd say that. You're dating her. But, to a fan, she's the enemy for stealing her favorite boy band member. But, yeah, I saw her in _Magic Middle School_ and she was pretty good…a bit overdramatic but good nonetheless."

"You just about nailed it there." He stopped walking. "Are you sure it's not you who's the fan? You chose to sit next to me back there."

"I always sit in the back and with that hat on," she thumped the bill of his baseball cap, "I couldn't really tell it was you. I'm sure my sister would have been able to figure it out, though. The only reason I even know what you look like is because of the million posters and Pop Tiger pullouts she has of you and your band. Fortunately," she smirked, "she mostly listens to your music through her earphones so I don't have to be subjected to it."

Logan chose to ignore the jab and pulled a piece of paper from his pocket.

"Can you help me find Rummager Hall?"

"We're standing in front of it." She batted his baseball cap again.

He turned to look at the three story brick building in front of him.

"Oh. Well, this is where I go in 'cause I have class. Um, see you Thursday?"

"Yeah, Thursday."

* * *

**Well, it's been almost ten years since I've been in college (graduated in 2004 so yes, I feel old). Back then it was all notebooks, pencils, and pens, but I hear now students bring laptops and I assume tablets to class to take notes with. I don't know from experience, but I'm going to go with that being the norm.**

**As for Aspen State, it is a college I made up. I based it off Colorado State University which is roughly a 2 hour drive from Aspen. It would have fit for Logan to go there, but I couldn't have him drive a combo of four hours a day. CSU has this program where guests, non-enrolled students, can take two classes a semester. I thought that would be perfect for Logan with him not knowing about this break in Colorado until just about two weeks before classes start, way too late to apply.**

**BTW, I want to let you readers know I am not against reviews, so if you want to send them send them. But, you don't have to if you don't want to. Just read my story. Please.**

**I am updating this story really fast (for me). That's what happens when inspiration hits.**


	5. Chapter 5

Logan returned home to find James and Kendall missing with Carlos in the basement playing a snowboarding game on the Wii using the balance board. Both Carlos and James had been visibly upset when they first discovered that Griffin's video game system of choice was not an Xbox or a Playstation, but rather a Wii, which they declared was sort of the girl of the video game world. But, then, Carlos found this game and was instantly obsessed.

Logan made it down the stairs in time to witness Carlos crash and burn on the board, falling flat on his back. Naturally, he was wearing his helmet so he wasn't hurt.

"Co-oo-ol."

Logan laughed.

"My highest score yet," Carlos announced sitting up. "You wanna try?"

"Sure." Like the other guys Logan liked playing video games. He just wasn't as obsessed with them as Carlos or as competitive as James. However, they'd been in Aspen for a week and a half and he had yet to try his hand at Carlos's new favorite.

"OK," Carlos stood up and handed the Wiimote to Logan, "you have to hold this while standing on this." He demonstrated. "And then you just—" he wiggled his body. "It's kind of hard to explain."

Logan threw his baseball cap onto the small couch behind him. He now had major hat hair but he wasn't James so he didn't care.

"How was school?" Carlos asked as if he was taking bad tasting medicine. Logan had gotten situated on the board and was now taking a practice run down the slopes.

"I met this rabid fan who claims she has a sister who's 'my biggest fan' but she knew way too much about me. I—oops." His Mii fell flat on his face. "I never thought about how us being celebrities would affect us out in the real world, you know, outside of Hollywood and our confined world of touring. OK, I am so not getting the hang of this," he finished as his Mii fell down again.

"Talk less play more."

"Hey, you're the one who asked the question!"

"I was just being polite," Carlos admitted.

Logan smiled. He could have been hurt by the statement that Carlos didn't care about his day, but he knew Carlos. Carlos cared, but when it came to school…well, many times he'd seen Carlos's eyes gloss over at the mere mention of the word.

"And how was your day?" Logan bit back still wearing his smile.

"Fine. I didn't go to school."

Logan stepped off the Wii board and glanced around the room. It was a pretty big room and yet didn't cover half of what the basement was. The room contained a couch, the television, the Wii, a refrigerator, a wet bar, a stereo, a foosball table, a pool table, dome hockey, and two chairs set up by the pool table.

"You done?" Carlos quickly asked. Without waiting for a response he took the Wiimote out of Logan's hand and stepped back up on the board.

"Hey, I need the practice!" Logan pretended to whine.

"I need to beat my high score," Carlos replied seriously.

Logan chuckled softly. To say Carlos was obsessed with this game was putting it mildly.

* * *

**I told you I'd update even if I got zero reviews. :p I hope you like the story. It's not got much going on right now, but there will be some drama and some shall I say, whumpage (I never heard that term until I started reading BTR fics and I guess what I'm going to do isn't excessive…well, I'll let y'all be the judge of that), but that's all I'm going to say because I hate spoiling stories. **

**Just a small filler chapter, but those are necessary to advance stories.**


	6. Chapter 6

He decided this was his favorite taste of all time. He'd tasted many things. He had many favorite foods, especially corn dogs, but this beat all of that by a mile.

"Ow."

Aw, the taste went away. Well, he'd just have to get it back, wouldn't he? Ah, there it was.

"Carlos!"

"Alexa!"

"Carlos!" she repeated rubbing her head.

"Sorry," he replied bashfully. He patted his helmet knowing he had bonked his girlfriend in the head with it while making out. Real romantic. He hoped no one made a rule that he couldn't wear his helmet while making out. The helmet already wasn't allowed at the dinner table, interviews, and photo shoots. If he didn't know better he'd think everyone was trying to get rid of the helmet. But, no. This helmet had saved his life on many occasions.

Wait, why was he thinking about his precious helmet when he should be thinking about the wonderful taste of his girlfriend's lips? There, that's better.

"Carlos!" Alexa sat up. "You did it again!" She slowly rubbed the helmet. "You know, when you wear that I can't run my fingers through your hair."

"It's pretty short so there's not much to run your fingers through." He sat up into a better reclining position against the pillows on his bed.

"Your helmet is not sexy!" She exclaimed.

"What?!" A pained expression spread across his face. "Is too!"

"Well, all right, I do have to admit you look cute wearing it."

"Told you." He stuck his tongue out.

"I'm going to see what the rest of the boys are up to." She kissed him on the cheek.

Carlos pouted. He wanted to taste her again. He was enjoying it so much and now she took it away!

"Ow!"

"Not my f—" He looked up to see Alexa had stubbed her toe on the nightstand and was now hopping around on one foot. "Oh-oh."

Carlos hopped off the bed, stepped over to his girlfriend, bent down on his knees, and allowed her to hop on his back. He then ran down the hall, down the stairs, and into the kitchen with Alexa on his back, depositing her on a counter stool next to James, both of them giggling the whole while.

Alexa had popped in this morning with none of the other boys knowing so they, well, James and Kendall being the only boys in the kitchen with Logan at class due to it being Thursday, were surprised to see her. But, then, they were used to her popping in, so they weren't completely surprised.

"Lucy's coming tomorrow!" James said typing something on his phone. "Lucy, Lucy, Lucy."

"Hey, maybe we can double date this weekend," Alexa suggested. "I should be sticking around until Sunday or Monday." She smiled at Carlos.

Carlos smiled back, but he didn't fail to see the face Kendall made. He knew Kendall missed Jo, but Jo was a busy working actress. Not that Alexa wasn't. She was busy, just that…she was able to visit more often.

"What're you thinking about? You've got that scrunched up look on your face," Alexa asked.

"Oh, sorry." Carlos unscrunched his face and returned to the smile.

"I'm gonna go work out. Wanna join me, Carlitos?" James hopped up wrapping a purple bandana around his forehead. Kendall tossed him a bottled water.

Down in the basement next to the entertainment room was a gym with a treadmill, exercise bike, elliptical, free weights, bench press, and other weight machines Carlos didn't know the name of. When the boys discovered the room James squealed like a teenage girl. The past few years he had gotten the other boys into working out themselves, but they still weren't as excited about it as James.

"No," Carlos shared a look with Alexa. He did sort of want to join James, but he knew Alexa didn't. "We're going to play the Wii."

"No we're not," Alexa immediately responded.

"OK, I've got to go make myself beautiful," he wiggled his fingers, "for Lucy tomorrow." He then flexed his biceps. "You like that don't you?" He asked Alexa, waggling his eyebrows.

"No, she doesn't." Carlos popped James in the bicep. "Stop flirting with my girlfriend."

"You're just afraid she'll want to get with this instead of that!" James called as he headed down the stairs.

"I'm making a sandwich for lunch. Would you like anything?" Kendall offered the two as he pulled sandwich meat and fixings from the fridge.

"Corn dog," Carlos exclaimed without thinking.

"You ate the last one last night."

"Darn it!" His eyes suddenly brightened as he turned to his girlfriend. "Hey, you wanna skateboard," he added quietly, "or continue making out?"

"OK."

"Skateboarding or making out?"

"Skateboarding, but I don't have a helmet."

"You can wear mine."

"What are you going to wear?"

"My helmet." He gave her a "duh" look while patting said helmet.

"We both can't wear the helmet, Carlos."

"Oh, yeah." He thought for a second. "We'll go buy you one, come on."

"And we can pick you up some corn dogs as well."

"That's why she's my girlfriend!" Carlos said to Kendall as Alexa dragged him out of the room.

After the two put on their shoes, black Vans for Carlos and brown sandals for Alexa which Carlos said weren't good for skateboarding but Alexa told him they were fine for shopping, Carlos popped his head back into the kitchen.

"Wanna join us?" He asked Kendall who had sat down at the counter and begun eating his sandwich.

"That's okay. You two go on and have fun."

Two hours later the happy couple returned with a light blue helmet for Alexa, a box of frozen corn dogs for Carlos, and one fresh corn dog each from a street vendor for both of them.

While Carlos was out having fun with Alexa Kendall was alone. He wasn't into working out like James was. He did enough of it to keep in shape, but he wasn't about being buff or having six pack abs. Jo had told him on more than one occasion that she liked his body the way it was and that was fine with him. So, that left him alone.

He retreated to his bedroom, which was in the middle of the hall upstairs, pulled his guitar out, sat on his bed, and began strumming. He played two scales before just randomly strumming whatever popped into his head.

"Josephine, I miss you, Josephine. Where are you and what are you doing?" He sang. "You are my Josephine, my little Josephine…" he let the line trail off not knowing where to go. He took a notebook and pencil out of his guitar bag and scribbled the words down. "Well, that was pathetic! What would Jo think?"

"Jo, Jo, I miss you," he started singing in different keys until he switched over to a very slow acoustic rendition of the chorus to their song "Boyfriend."

He flipped some page in his notebook to get to a song he'd been working on privately. He felt it was more mature than anything BTR had done in the past, but with the boys getting older and their fourth album coming up, maybe it was time.

"I can't get you out of my mind," he mumbled. Was he talking about Jo or the song? He didn't know. He couldn't get either out of his mind. He missed Jo completely. He had been away from her for three months and then only got to see her twice before being sent here for five months!

As for the song, he wanted to take that step. No, not a solo act. Not that step. Any kind of breaking out he planned on doing would involve hockey. But, as long as he was part of Big Time Rush he wanted to do something, be something. He wanted to be more than just a teeny bopper boy band singing manufactured pop songs. Not that there was anything wrong with that! It did get him to where he was. He did love his fans. They were cool, he had to admit, even screaming teenage girls. Never thought he'd have that! Without them none of this would even be possible. He didn't want to say the wrong thing or do the wrong thing to make them think he wasn't grateful. No, no, no, no, no. But, he wanted to go one further. Not like writing a sexual song! Not that kind of mature. Just, more…ugh! Why couldn't he figure out what he was trying to say or rather think?

Fortunately, he didn't have to dwell on it longer because his phone rang.

"Hey, Baby Sis."

"Hey, Big Brother. Guess what? Mom just booked us tickets to Aspen for next week," she finished without giving him time to guess.

"That's great. I've missed you guys and I'm sure the others have missed having someone mother them."

"Because that's all mom's good for."

"You know what I mean!"

"I do. What's up with you four?"

Kendall put his guitar down, scooted toward the head of his bed, and leaned against the headboard. He liked talking to Katie. He explained what everyone was up to—Logan with his classes, Carlos and Alexa, James getting ready for Lucy's visit, and—

"You're sitting there pining for Jo," Katie concluded.

"I'm not pining for Jo!"

"I know you, Big Brother. It's okay. She's pining for you."

"She is? I mean, oh." He actually wished he could be having this conversation with Jo and not Katie, but Jo was so busy it was hard getting her on the phone for more than a few minutes at a time.

"She leaves for filming the same time we start school so we usually bump into each other in the morning."

Kendall heard someone thundering up the stairs and then Alexa burst into his room holding onto Carlos's arm.

"Katie, I need to go. Carlos had an accident," Kendall explained.

"Yeah, I've got things I need to do, too." Carlos had plenty of accidents so Kendall was not surprised Katie was unfazed by the news.

"You're not still text-stalking Austin?"

"It's none of your business."

"As your big brother it is my business." Even though he couldn't see it he knew Katie rolled her eye at him.

"Love you, Big Brother."

"Love you, too, Baby Sis." Kendall hung up his cell and turned to Alexa and Carlos.

Carlos held a bloody paper towel against his chin.

"Dr. Logan's not here, unfortunately, but there's a first aid kit in his bathroom." Kendall got up to help them with it.

* * *

** I hate coughing. That has nothing to do with the story, but I have been coughing up a storm for two weeks and cough drops and medicine don't work. Obviously, it doesn't take away from my inspiration to write. Maybe it adds to it. When I get over this cough I'll no longer have the inspiration to write (which not many people will complain since only 4 have this on alert and 3 have it on favorites ;) Nah, each and everyone one of you is important even if it's only one).**

**I hope I didn't insult anyone with the "teeny bopper boy band singing manufactured pop songs" line. I know in real life they've written a handful of their songs, but on the show they've only written one to my knowledge and that was a bonus track. I don't think Kendall thinks of his band as a "teeny bopper boy band." That's why he back tracks his thoughts when trying to rationalize it with himself.**


	7. Chapter 7

"Empty," James said shaking a can of Cuda Hair Spray. He picked up another can. "Empty, too! What is this, a nightmare?" He pinched his finger on the nozzle of the spray can. "Oh it is. Well, Mr. Diamond, if you can wake up you'll find you have all the hair spray you need."

James turned slightly in his bed, smiling at the thought. He wasn't out of any of his Cuda products. He was just dreaming. If he was supposed to be awake now why did he feel like there was someone lying next to him in the bed. He could faintly hear the breathing. No, no, he slept by himself.

Carefully, he peeked out of one eye, his right eye as his left was smooshed into his pillow. What he saw made him scream and almost fall out of bed.

"Aaaagh!" Was the response from the other person.

"Lucy?" James regained his composure. He hadn't seen her since that week in July. She was out of town when Big Time Rush returned home from their tour. "What are you doing here? Wait, you can't see me like this. Not with bed head and puffy sleep eyes." He made to jump out of bed, but she put out an arm to stop him. "I have to go beautify myself," he demanded.

"No," she whispered. She leaned up and kissed him on the lips. "Ooh, morning breath."

"Now, will you let me make myself beautiful?"

She shook her head, her red highlights falling over her face. James brushed it away and tucked it behind her left ear.

"You knew I was coming today. We confirmed it yesterday."

"Yeah, but I thought you were coming later. I'd pick you up at the airport. We'd go out and have dinner. You know…"

"I wanted to surprise you and apparently I did. I took an early flight out of LAX, grabbed a taxi here, and Logan let me in. I snuck up here, put my stuff in the corner, took my shoes off, and slid into bed next to you. You were snoring softly. It was cute. I took a picture." Lucy leaned over the edge of the bed and removed her phone from the carpeted floor. After pressing a few buttons she showed James the photo.

"Erase that!" He exclaimed.

"No way. It's going on Scuttlebutter right now."

"You put that on Scuttlebutter and you're asking for it!" He reached for the phone and ended up elbowing Lucy in the face.

"Now I'm definitely posting it!" She tapped the screen of her phone. "And there."

"You didn't!"

"I did!" She waved the phone in front of his face.

"I hate you." James hopped out of bed and headed for the bathroom.

"You love me," Lucy corrected.

Love? Did he? No, it was too early for that. He leaned against the bathroom door frame. They hadn't been dating that long, just this summer. They didn't even become official until a month or so after the Tween Choice Awards, after their first kiss. But, James knew the feelings in his heart and stomach were not feelings he'd ever had for a girl before.

"I know."

Lucy froze.

"You love me?"

"I—I love you." He didn't mean to say it, but when he did it felt right. "I love you, Lucy Stone."

"And I love you, James Diamond." She hopped out of bed, ran past James, mussed up his hair, and stepped into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.

"Hey, James, have you checked your Scuttlebutter this morning?" Carlos snickered when James came downstairs an hour later after cleaning up. "Maybe you can make that your next headshot."

James would have responded with some sort of comeback, but he didn't care. He'd been in a state of bliss ever since declaring his love for Lucy. Thinking about it in the shower he really and truly meant it. When he first met her he went after her because she was the new girl, a new prospect. Eventually, they became friends and he had dreams of kissing her one day. He never thought it would turn into love for he'd never felt that way about any girl before. James loved girls, but he had never been serious about anyone he dated. Until now.

"I think it's sweet," Alexa said taking Carlos's phone from him and looking at the picture.

James poured himself a cup of coffee and joined Lucy at the kitchen counter. She had a bowl of cereal in front of her and next to her was Logan enjoying a piece of toast. James and Lucy were the only ones who were ready for the day. Everyone else, Kendall, Logan, Carlos, and Alexa were still in their pajamas.

Lucy took her free hand and slowly placed it on James's right hand which was holding onto the handle of his mug. The two had been dating for a while and yes, they were physical with each other, but this act meant so much more. James removed his hand from the mug and laced his fingers with hers. He rubbed the palm of her hand with his thumb. She turned to look at him. He looked into her eyes. They weren't the same ones he saw before.

"I love you," Lucy mouthed squeezing James's hand gently.

"This is creeping me out," Kendall spoke up after what could have been a whole minute the couple stared into each other's eyes. "Our little Jamie is in love."

"Way to ruin the moment," James released Lucy's hand and returned to his mug of coffee.

"He's just jealous I never felt this way about him."

"Oh you? Don't you forget I was the one who ended things with you, so perhaps it was I who did not feel this way about you. You ran away after I chose Jo."

James put up his hands.

"Now this is getting weird. You two dated in the past, but we don't have to talk about it. Kendall, you're happy with Jo and Lucy, you're happy with me."

"Who says I'm happy with you?"

"Oooh," came the sound of the peanut gallery, mainly Logan and Carlos.

"Well, I _was_ happy with you, but now, forget it."

"So you won't mind if I get back with Kendall?"

"Nah."

"How about if I stay with you?" Lucy leaned over and kissed James hot on the lips.

"Ewwww…" Carlos trailed off when Alexa shushed him with a kiss of her own.

"We deserve this," Logan admitted. "We've been flaunting Jo and Camille in their faces for the past few years."

Kendall sighed.

"'Cause your heart calling feels like confetti falling down, down, down," James sang to himself as he stood in front of his bathroom mirror shaving while wearing nothing but a white v-neck and boxers. He was getting ready for his double date that night and wanted to look his best. Looking his best meant shaving even though he'd already done that this morning. He didn't know why but this song always made him think of Lucy and Lucy always made him think of this song. "'Cause your heart calling feels like confetti falling down, down, do-ow!" He pressed his right index finger against his chin. "Call 911!"

"What'd you do?" Logan called out from his bedroom.

"I marred the face!"

Logan ran across the hall.

"Dude, it's just a nick."

"Just a nick? Just a nick? On you it'd be just a nick, but on this face it's…it's…I'm deformed," James wailed. "I don't want to bleed out." He continued pressing his finger against the cut to staunch the bleeding.

"You've cut your face before. Just put a band-aid on it. You'll live."

"What?! No! I am not going out in public like this."

"It's just a nick," Lucy said having run up the stairs after hearing James scream. "Besides," she opened the small round band-aid Logan handed her and placed it over the cut, "I think it makes you look sexier."

"Yeah, sexy," Logan rolled his eyes. "Now you match Carlos, Nick, I mean James."

James gave him a sarcastic laugh.

"Don't mind him. You do look sexy." Lucy kissed him quickly on the lips as Logan hurriedly left the room.

"How can you love me now I'm deformed?"

"Because I love you for your brain?" She thumped his forehead before running toward the bed trying to get away, but James managed to pick her up anyway. He placed her on the bed and then crawled on top of her.

"Don't patronize me." James began running his fingers up and down her sides.

"Do you even know what that means?" She giggled.

"Do I know what that means?" He tickled her harder. "She asks if I know what that means!"

Lucy tried to sit up. Finally, she was able to raise her head and give James a passionate kiss causing him to lose his grip on the tickles.

"Before I forget," she said after she stopped kissing James and sat up, "I've been booked to do the 97.1 Amp Radio New Years Bash on New Year's Eve in LA. I was hoping you'd perform a duet with me."

"Would that be considered breaking out? I promised the others I wouldn't break the No Breaking Out Code."

"You boys and your codes. I don't think this counts as breaking out.

"All right then. Have your people call my people."

"Your people being Gustavo Rocque?"

"Yep."

"I can't wait for the slopes to open," Carlos said eyeing the majestic Rockies in the background.

"You do know they won't be til the end of November," James said leaning his head into Lucy's hair, which was quite a feat being that he was almost a foot taller than her.

"Aw man!"

"There's still plenty for you to do here," Alexa said tapping Carlos on the nose.

The two couples, on their double date, were currently strolling the shopping area of downtown Aspen. The guys didn't have any idea what to do on their date so Alexa suggested they explore the town. Aspen did have some pretty big names in its shopping district.

"Watch where you're going!" Alexa exclaimed when two teenage males knocked Carlos over and since she was holding his hand effectively knocked her on top of him.

"Hey, look, it's Carlos and James from Big Time Rush," the taller blond mocked.

"And if it isn't Miss Spy Kid herself, Alexa Vega," the dark haired boy commented.

"You can't talk to her like that!" Carlos stood up, helped his girlfriend up, and brushed the dirt off both of them.

"It's okay, Carlos. They didn't say anything mean."

"It's not what they said; it's how they said it."

Alexa gave him a look saying "let it go." Carlos shook his head. He didn't want to let it go. He wasn't going to let anyone insult his girlfriend. But, he also didn't want to get in a fight with anyone while out on a date with his girlfriend. He also wasn't wearing his helmet.

"Sorry, man," Carlos mumbled.

"It's cool, it's cool," the dark haired boy said. "Hey, what'd you do to your chin?"

"Skateboarding accident."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, I actually wasn't on the skateboard at the time. I tripped over the board and skidding along the sidewalk on my chin." Carlos absentmindedly rubbed his chin over the scrape and grimaced.

"Did you trip over a skateboard, too?" The blond asked James.

"There's nothing on my chin," James exclaimed raising his hand to cover it.

"No?"

James looked anywhere but at the two boys desperately not making eye contact.

"I can't believe you traded numbers with them," Alexa said, scanning Carlos's phone's address book. "Russian acrobats?"

"I'm a people person."

"How dare they not know who Lucy Stone is!" James declared appearing more offended than Lucy.

"They just don't know good music."

"They knew who we—hey!" James pretended to be offended. He lifted his menu higher to cover his chin.

The couples found themselves in an outdoor restaurant as the sun set after walking around the shopping district. James was interested in some of the stores, but no one else was.

'What are you doing?"

"Me? Nothing!"

Lucy pushed the menu down. James raised it back up.

"Excuse me, I'm deciding what to order."

"Maybe we need to have your vision checked," Lucy suggested.

"What? Glasses on this face? Puh! I am perfe—" he stopped. "I'm not perfect anymore!"

"It's just a cut, James, not the end of the world." She rubbed his arm.

"Good evening," the waiter appeared suddenly, "My name is Nick and I'll be your waiter."

James instinctively reached for his chin. Nick. Darn you, Nick! Darn you, stupid razor who didn't know James Diamond's the face and it's a complete sin to cut it!

"James, James," Lucy waved her hand in front of his face, "the waiter would like to take your drink order." She pulled his menu down and placed it on the table. "Look at me," she whispered. "You are perfect. To me. But, if you obsess over this stupid cut on your face I am going to publically walk out of this restaurant. I might just make a scene worthy of a rag magazine. I love you, James, and I do think your obsession with your looks is cute but this is just too far."

He was officially embarrassed. He didn't know what to say or do. He prided himself on having the face, but _was_ he taking it too far?

Lucy reached for James's hand as they walked around a park near the restaurant after dinner. Carlos and Alexa decided to let them have some time to themselves since it looked like they might need it. James had been unusually quiet the rest of the meal and Lucy was afraid she'd hurt his feelings. That was not her intention at all. The way he was acting over a cut on his face was embarrassing her!

"Do you think I'm shallow?" James asked.

Lucy didn't know how to respond to that. She wanted to be truthful, but she didn't want to hurt him. She had to phrase this carefully.

"That pause means you do!" James let go of her hand.

"No! You're one of the deepest guys I know." Perhaps not like that.

"I know you're lying to me!" James sat down on the ground. He was wearing a nice pair of pants and he didn't care if he got grass stains on them. Maybe he should point that out to show how not shallow he was. No, not being shallow meant not having to point things like that out. He pulled a few blades of grass out in frustration.

Lucy knelt down beside him and rubbed his face. It was smooth and soft. James really did know an awful lot about skin care. Nothing wrong with that especially with the business he was in. Heck, there was probably something he could teach her.

"I don't know anyone who obsesses over their looks the way you do," she admitted.

"Shallowly."

"Shh," she placed a finger on his lips. "But, that's not all you are. You're loving, sweet, kind…you're the best friend anyone could ask for. Just look at your relationship with Kendall, Carlos, and Logan and don't forget Katie as well as Camille and Jo…those are just your friends that I know."

"So, I'm a good friend. Big deal."

"Big deal?" She ran her hands through his hair, something she'd never done before, not this slowly. He really did have silky smooth hair. She knew messing with his hair was upsetting to James, but she also instinctively felt that this was what she should do. "If you were as shallow and vain as you think you are would you be as good a friend as you know you are?"

James shrugged.

Lucy ripped the band-aid off James's chin.

"Ow! What was that for?"

She kissed the cut.

"You're not the boy I met two years ago. That boy would have never sacrificed himself in his lifelong mates' annual prank war. You put someone else above you at the expense of how it made you look. Think about it." She brushed her lips against his. "When I went on my European Tour, I thought about you a lot. I know I already told you that." She ran her hand against his chest. "I thought about the boy you were when I first met you. I knew you were only into me because I was the new girl. When I returned to the Palm Woods and you were still into me, I figured it was because I was another conquest for you. But, everyday you kept showing me how you changed. Yes, you were still obsessed with your face and hair and frankly, I wouldn't have you any other way. I learned you cared. You showed me you cared. You showed me you matured. You're growing up. It was this James that I fell in love with. This is you. The real James Diamond."

* * *

**Things will pick up soon, I promise you. We just have to do this to get there. Stick with me!**


	8. Chapter 8

"You're not still brooding over what we talked about last night?" Lucy asked James the next morning while he was in the bathroom and she was still lying in bed.

"It's a lot to think about," James said while brushing his teeth.

"I didn't mean to hurt you. You were just embarrassing with the obsession over that cut on your face, which, I must remind you, is sexy."

"Yeah, yeah," James spat into the sink and wiped his face on a clean towel. "Am I really that embarrassing? All the time?"

"No," Lucy answered honestly.

She climbed out of bed and walked over to James. She was about to put her arms around him when he threw the razor he had been holding across the bathroom with it landing in the bathtub.

"Don't be upset."

"What should I be? My girlfriend thinks I'm some shallow narcissistic pretty boy."

"Well, you are a pretty boy," she admitted now wrapping her arms around his waist and leaning her head into his muscular back. "And yeah, you think about your looks way more than the average person, but like I told you last night there is more to you than just your appearance. You need to realize that. We see beyond your face and hair to the person you really are. That guy is far more beautiful than what's on the outside."

"And what's on the outside is pretty darn good looking."

"That's the James I know and love," She kissed his back since he had not turned around so she could kiss his face.

James and Lucy spent the rest of the weekend together not worrying about his looks. Well, James tried to show that he wasn't worrying but he was. It wasn't so much that he worried about whether he was "perfect" but rather that maybe he did over think things when it came to him being devastatingly handsome (his words, by the way). But, that's who he was. It was hard to think about anything else. When someone, other than Lucy, touched his hair it freaked him out. As it was he was pretty nervous when Lucy ran her hands through his hair, but he liked the feeling of her touch so he accepted it. He felt allowing that was a huge step.

"Da da da da-da da da-da," James hummed as he helped Lucy pack her suitcase.

"What are you humming?" She asked tossing a gray swimsuit bottom into the bag.

"Nothing." James folded up a pair of her black socks and went back to the song. "Da da da da-da da da-da."

"Is that the _I Love Lucy_ theme song?"

"Yes, because I love Lucy and she loves me…" He grabbed Lucy's hand and spun her around the room while singing the only line of the song he knew. He loved watching her red hair fly around her head as she spun.

"I—I have to finish."

"But you do love me," he said not letting go of her hand.

"Yes, I do."

"Stay." James pulled her onto the bed next to her suitcase.

"I can't stay. I have a radio interview and start recording my new video later this week. Got rehearsal all day tomorrow."

"You can do the interview over the phone."

"I can't just 'phone it in', James."

"Oh ha ha," James replied sarcastically.

Lucy zipped up her suitcase. "If we don't get going I'm going to miss my flight."

James pulled her back towards him. "Maybe that's my intention."

"I'll be back. Won't be long. I'll visit lots. Why don't you come with me? You could spend a week back at the Palm Woods. Gustavo won't mind."

James shook his head.

"It's not Gustavo. Everything we do we have to impress Griffin. Even a freakin' break!"

Lucy kissed his cheek.

"Tis the life you lead. I know it sucks, but you want this. It's the price of fame." She picked her suitcase up. "I think I have everything."

"But if you don't I can mail it to you or leave it until the next time you visit," James deadpanned. "I'll drive you to the airport."

"You better. Cabs are expensive. I'm not rich and famous, yet, like you."

"Not til I'm 21, dearie."

"You are famous, _dearie_," she mocked.

"It's because of my handsomely good looks." James started to waggle his fingers when he remembered his conversation with Lucy on Friday.

"OK, _handsome_," Lucy rolled her eyes, "let's get a move on."

"I saw that."

The couple stood inside the airport as far as James the unticketed could go. Beyond that were security and the terminal. James held Lucy in a tight embrace and he didn't want to let go.

"Call me as soon as you land," James ordered.

"Of course," Lucy replied.

"So this is love," he thought to himself. Before, when he was just in like with Lucy he didn't like seeing her leave, but it didn't tear at his heart. He knew he could talk to her anytime over the phone and video chat and that they would again see each other. But now, knowing that didn't help. His heart still ached at her departure.

James put a hand on Lucy's left cheek, bent down, and crashed his lips into hers. If only he could stay like this forever.

"First call for United Airlines Flight 6427 to Los Angeles now boarding for take-off."

"That's my flight," Lucy broke apart grabbing her wheeled suitcase.  
"It's first call. You have plenty of time." James pulled her back into his body.

"I have to go through security." She tried pulling away but James wouldn't let her go. "James!"

"I'll miss you."

"I know." She held up her smart phone. "We'll video chat as soon as I land, I promise."

"It's not the same."

"I know." She patted his cheek. "But, it's the best we've got."

Lucy turned to look at the line at security.

"Look, James, if I don't go now, I'm not going to make my flight."

"Then you'll have to stay with me longer," James smirked.

"That's not going to make my producer happy and you know what happens with an unhappy producer."

"Yeah…"

Lucy stood on tiptoe and pecked James on the lips.

"I love you, James Diamond," she whispered his last name hoping no crazed fan was nearby.

"I love you, Lucy Stone."

He stood rooted to the ground as she made her way through security. She blew him a kiss before she went through the metal detector.

"Now I know what Kendall must have felt."

* * *

**I was being goofy and started comparing BTR to Rugrats and I've got it figured out. Kendall is Tommy, Logan is Chuckie (he's not really as scared as Chuckie is but he does have the "this isn't such a good idea" mentality about what his friends do), Carlos and James are Phil and Lil (either one, but perhaps James is Lil? They are a lot messier than James, though). Gustavo is Angelica with Kelly as Susie and Katie is Kimi because that's all that's left. Well, no, there's Dil. Katie could be Dil. Dil is Tommy's younger brother and Katie is Kendall's younger sister. That is, imo, about the only thing they have in common, though.**


	9. Chapter 9

While James was dropping off Alexa at the airport…

"Jo, I know you're busy, so just call me back when you have the time. Love you." Kendall tossed his phone aside and rested against the headboard of his bed. His guitar lay next to him but he didn't feel like picking it up. What he did pick up was his notebook. Opening to the first blank page he sat up and began writing.

"'It only took a moment/When I looked into your eyes/To realize…'" He paused. "To realize what? To realize that this is a corny verse?" He grabbed his pencil ready to erase, but stopped himself. "It only took a minute, no, it only took a second? 'It only took a second/When I looked into your eyes/To realize' but, what? To realize what?" He imagined looking into Jo's brown eyes. "To realize you have brown eyes. To realize you're the girl of my dreams. To realize what?" He tapped his pencil against his chin. "'It took longer than a minute/When I looked into your eyes/To realize this was not love at first sight.' Yeah, that's romantic." He tossed the pencil aside and rubbed his face. "Jo, just call!" And just that like his phone rang.

"Hey, Baby Sis," he answered. Not the person he wanted, but he was okay talking to his sister.

"Hey, Big Brother. Mom wants me to finalize plans with you. We're flying in Wednesday morning and will be staying until Sunday evening. Sound good to you?"

"Yeah."

"She's checking out things to do in Aspen and getting all touristy."

"I heard that," Kendall heard his mom in the background.

"Tell mom I said hi."

"Mom, Kendall says hi."

"Hi, Kendall!" Mrs. Knight responded. "I'm excited about seeing you guys."

"We're excited, too," Kendall said. Katie did not have him on speaker phone but he could hear his mom pretty well and he was sure she could hear him decently, too.

Kendall was thrilled his mother and sister were coming for a visit. He'd been here for almost a month and any time apart from them seemed too long. He was really close to his family. He felt he had to be since he was the man of the house. He'd been the man since his baby sister was three and that was ten or eleven years ago? How old was Katie now anyway? Too old, he decided. She was starting to wear makeup and be interested in boys. Oh, she'd been interested in boys for a few years, but now she was really getting interested in boys if you knew what he meant. The whole ordeal with Austin Mahone really woke Kendall up to his sister becoming a teenager. Nothing happened, she assured him, but she did text that boy far more than Kendall liked. Not that he had anything against Austin! He was a nice boy. It just showed him that his sister was growing up.

"Big Brother? Kendall?" Katie practically shouted into the phone bringing Kendall back to the conversation. "I asked you if you had anything planned while we're there."

"Oh, um, no. We'll do whatever you want to do. If you want to sit around the house and watch Carlos play this snowboarding game on the Wii that's fine with me."

"No, I do not want to watch Carlos play a video game."

Kendall laughed.

"Oh, hey, Katie," he interrupted whatever she was saying when he heard his phone beep, "I'm getting another call. It's probably Jo."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll let you go. Love you, Big Brother."

"Love you, too, Baby Sis. Tell Mom I love her, too." He pressed a couple of buttons on his phone and switched to the other phone call. "Jo?"

"Hey, Kendall."

"I've missed hearing your voice." He leaned against the pillows on his bed ready to indulge in a long night of talking to his girlfriend.

.

Reclining on his bed, Logan watched Camille talk animatedly waving her arms and such through his laptop. He loved watching her talk. She was an actress in every sense of the word. There was no better vocation for her. She sat on her bed in her room in apartment 4J of the Palm Woods and he sat on his bed in his room on the second floor of Griffin's Aspen cabin.

"I have an audition on Tuesday and then," Camille paused for dramatic effect, "I have the rest of the week off."

"Oh." Logan's face dropped. He'd hoped while he was away she would keep herself busy for two reasons—she'd miss him less and he wouldn't feel like he was missing a lot of time he could be spending with her. He wasn't as heartsick as Kendall was over being away from Jo but it did still make him a little sad that she had days off he wasn't going to be able to spend with her, especially after not being able to see her for an entire three month tour.

"I thought about surprising you; seeing the look on your face would have been priceless, but I just can't keep it quiet any longer. Mrs. Knight and Katie are flying to Colorado on Wednesday."

"That's the 'surprise'?" Logan air quoted. "I already knew that."

"No, I'm the surprise!"

"You?" Logan's eyes lit up when realization dawned on him. "You're coming, too!"

"That's right! I was able to get tickets on the same flights as the Knights. Palm Woods isn't the same without you and the guys around, though we should be used to it with all the traveling your band does now."

"Rigorous schedule of a boy band. Y'know, I never thought I'd be in a boy band. My dream has always been to be a doctor. I think even before I started kindergarten."

"Aw, but you're so cute in BTR! I do get to see you on all the big time TV shows and magazine covers." She held up that month's edition of Pop Tiger which had a funny looking photo of Big Time Rush right smack in the middle of the cover.

"That was when James and my bus broke down in Minneapolis. James was crushed that Gustavo made him get off the bus before he had a chance to grab his Cuda products and fix his hair. That's why he's making that face."

"James, James, James."

"Yep, James. So, you're really flying here on Wednesday?"

"I'm really flying there on Wednesday."

"And you're really going to be here for four days?"

"I'm really going to be there for four days. If I had paper tickets I'd show you."

.

With the sun set low in the afternoon sky and the breeze blowing gently through their hair, well, mostly Alexa's as Carlos's was really too short to make any sort of movement, the young couple sat together in a reclining wooden lounge chair on the porch taking in the impressive mountain view before them, the girl's head casually on the boy's chest. After Carlos tried teaching Alexa how to play his new favorite video game, they decided to take a relaxing break enjoying the fresh air of the Colorado outdoors.

Carlos had never had a serious girlfriend before so he was unsure what he was supposed to do. The closest thing was Stephanie King, but he wasn't sure what happened to her after that dance. Summer came and she didn't come back to the Palm Woods. They never exchanged phone numbers or email addresses or Scuttlebutter accounts or anything. He actually tried looking her up on Scuttlebutter and he did find three Stephanie Kings, but one was a 40 something year old woman and the second was 12 years old. The third one didn't have a picture and the only identifying information she put was that she was a teenager who loved movies. But, when Carlos contacted her she said she was from England and had never left Europe. So he just figured his Stephanie King didn't have one and he would never hear from her again. She could become a famous director and then maybe he'd try to get in touch with her.

He shook his head. Why was he thinking about Stephanie when he was with Alexa? Alexa, the girl that wasn't going to disappear on him. OK, she would technically disappear, but only because she was a spy! He'd still be able to get in touch with her. Alexa, the girl that enjoyed eating corn dogs with him unlike that one girl Gustavo set him up with. He laughed softly at the thought of Gustavo setting him up with a girlfriend. That was not his intention. He wanted to break Carlos's heart by having Sasha dump him so he could properly sing a break up song. Mean. But, Sasha couldn't do it and maybe she would have been Carlos's first serious relationship if it hadn't been for her dislike of his favorite food.

"What's so funny?" Alexa asked.

"Oh, uh…" Carlos stammered. He knew he could not tell his girlfriend that he was thinking about girls he had previously dated while he should be having a romantic moment with her. "Just thinking about something Gustavo did." Maybe he shouldn't have said being with his girlfriend made him think about Gustavo. Oh, ew. Now he was thinking of Gustavo and romance in the same sentence.

"Carlos?" Alexa sat up. "Are you okay?"

Instead of answering her he crashed his lips onto hers. Perhaps kissing her would get him to stop thinking about other things. He could go back to thinking about how wonderful her lips taste. Fruit Smackers. Today they tasted like Fruit Smackers. They'd shared a package a few minutes ago on the porch.

He was enjoying the taste of the Fruit Smackers on Alexa's lips when his phone beeped. It was just a text message so Carlos didn't check it. The phone was in his cargo shorts pocket and answering it would mean Alexa would have to move and he'd have to stop kissing her. After the third reminder beep, Alexa pulled the phone from his pocket and checked it herself.

"Busy tmrrw? – John M.," she read.

John M.? John M.? Carlos took his phone from Alexa. Who was—oh, that's right.

"He's one of the guys we met Friday, the shorter one." He typed out. "Girlfriend's going home tomorrow so no" and sent it out.

Almost immediately he got a reply back.

"Skate Park tmrrw. Join us. –John M."

Carlos liked to skate whether it was board or inline. It wasn't his favorite thing to do. Actually, he preferred ice skating. But, it was fun and maybe he could convince Logan, Kendall, or James to come.

* * *

**OK, I didn't purposely pick Minnesota as the state where one of the BTR tour buses breaks down. I used** **"eeny-meeny-minie-moe" and picked the 32****nd**** state which just so happens to be…Minnesota.**


	10. Chapter 10

Kendall slid down the ramp on his skateboard swerving to avoid Tom, well, he thought it was Tom but it could have been John, coming down as well. He liked skateboarding, but he had never learned many tricks. Before Big Time Rush he spent most of his free time playing hockey. And now? The boys were reckless enough without adding injury trying to slide down a handrail.

"Wow," Carlos said mesmerized when one of John and Tom's friends did a 360 in the air. "Can you teach me?" He called out.

Just what Carlos needed, to learn how to do something that would eventually land him in the hospital.

"How about we start with the ollie first?" John said.

Carlos nodded and double tapped his helmet. "I can do a wheelie." He showed off his talent.

"Great, great."

Kendall didn't know how Carlos managed to rope him into coming to the Skate Park that Monday afternoon. He didn't know John, Tom, or any of their friends and he wasn't a big skater boy like he had imagined and now knew they were. He felt out of place. This wasn't an ice skating rink, his home domain.

"First, we'll start with the basics."

Kendall tuned Carlos and John-Tom out as he decided to just skate around the park. He came because Carlos begged him to death. Carlos wanted to come but he didn't want to come alone in case the guys were dangerous. The guy who Kendall thought was Tom was a bit of a jerk, but the other guy, John if he wasn't Tom, seemed okay.

"Hey, look its pretty boy from Big Time Rush," someone snickered behind Kendall's back.

"That's not the pretty boy, Jeff, that's the _bad _boy_," _someone else replied back with a giggle (which Kendall didn't think was very manly of someone making fun of him being the "bad boy"). "Some bad boy."

"How do you know that?"

"My sister's a fan."

"Yeah, your sister."

"Yeah, shoot, she's got this picture of him on her wall of him trying to look all bad boy in black leather and eyeliner."

Kendall remembered taking that picture. He wasn't happy about it, but he and Gustavo had worked to convince Griffin he was the bad boy so he had to project the image at least once.

Not wanting to hear the rest of the boys' argument, discussion, whatever, Kendall grabbed his board and walked over to the area where Carlos was being taught how to ollie over a low balance beam. He'd seen Carlos ollie not very high, but never over anything aside from a crack in the sidewalk. And he wouldn't see that today as when Carlos jumped over the beam he landed before his skateboard did, falling to his knees, but he looked to be all right.

"Hey, Carlos, I think I'm going to head on home."

Carlos looked up at him with smiling eyes.

"You're okay here, right?"

"Yeah, I've almost mastered this."

"Sure." If that's what you call almost mastering something. "See ya later."

"K."

On Kendall's drove home he thought about heading to an ice skating rink. He hadn't brought his skates or any of his hockey gear to Colorado, but he was sure he could rent a pair at the rink. However, instead of driving to find a rink he found himself driving back to the cabin. After parking the SUV in the garage he decided to collect the garbage cans at the end of the driveway. Monday was garbage day and he'd learned the garbage men liked coming early. He found out when the loud grinding of the truck woke him up last Monday morning.

As he was about to pull the can back up the driveway he noticed a young light brown haired woman opening her mailbox. She looked his way and they locked eyes.

"Hey, you're Kendall Knight from Big Time…" She clasped a hand over her mouth. "Sorry, I know that can be annoying. Probably more for you though because you're more easily recognizable. That's the beauty of being an author." Their driveways were not exactly close to each other so it was kind of hard for Kendall to hear what she was saying, but he did hear her say she was an author and noticed her cheeks turning red.

"Have you written anything I might have read?" He wasn't a big reader or much of one really, but it wasn't like he never picked up a book. He walked over so he could better hear her answer.

"Do you read chick lit?"

He shook his head.

"Didn't think so. I'm Paige Godfrey."

"Hey, my girlfriend's read some your work. I think she was reading one of your novels when we left on tour."

"Jo Tay—"

"Are you a stalker?" Kendall interrupted.

"No," Paige laughed. "_Entertainment Tonight_." She grabbed the mail out of her mailbox which had been open this entire time.

"Do you live here?" Kendall asked curiously and stupidly. He looked at the front entrance of the cabin that he had to admit was smaller than the one he was staying at. Of course she lived here. She wouldn't be collecting the mail if she didn't. Kendall thought about checking the mail, but bills and stuff like that were sent to Griffin's California address and any mail for the boys was not directed to Colorado (fan mail was still sent to Rocque Records). Actually, Kendall thought he heard Griffin had mail service stopped for this address.

"For the time being," Paige answered closing the mailbox door and shuffling through the envelopes. "My agent rented this house for a few months to help get my juices flowing. She claims I need some inspiration for my next big hit." Paige rolled her eyes. "You can't make inspiration come. It runs on its own schedule. What about you? Did you finally get tired of Hollywood?"

"Griffin, our producer's boss, owns this cabin," Kendall pointed to his left with his thumb, "and decided we need a break."

"Yeah, you've been pretty busy. You won that tween show thingy."

"Tween Choice Awards. You'd think it was a Grammy the way Gustavo acted."

"Gustavo?"

"Our producer."

"Ah, well congratulations on the award. Any award is something to be proud of even if it's not a Grammy."

"Thanks." Kendall turned to head back to the house but stopped himself and looked back at Paige who had taken a few steps up her driveway. "Would you like to go ice skating?"

"Ice skating? But you have a girlfriend?"

"I'm not asking you on a date. If you know anything about me, about the band, is that hockey is in our blood. I just, I need to get on the ice right now. I'm sure there's an indoor rink around."

"I—I don't know. Are any of your band mates coming?"

Kendall shook his head. "I haven't asked them. Carlos is out with some new guys and I'm not sure what James and Logan are doing."

"This is—I'm not very—I don't—"

"It'll be fine. I won't do anything. I promise."

"I don't know," she said quietly looking down at the concrete.

"I'll, uh, I'll go see if one the guys will come with us. Is that okay?"

She looked up at Kendall and nodded slowly.

"Give me fifteen minutes. No, wait, give me your phone number and I'll call you in about fifteen minutes." He pulled his cell out of his back pocket and handed it to Paige who quickly typed in her contact.

"Go change and I'll call you when I get one or both of the guys to join."

Paige nodded and as soon as she entered her house Kendall made his way back to his. She seemed like she could be a fun girl and it was neighborly of him to want to make friends with the neighbors. He meant what he said about not doing anything and this not being a date. He loved his Jo. He wished it was Jo he was taking skating but it wasn't.

"What's up?" Logan answered Kendall's call. He had tried James first, but it went to voice mail.

"Hey, where are you? I need to get on the ice."

"I'm in the basement. OK, go get on the ice."

"I'll find you in the basement. I need to get on the ice and I want to know if you want to join me."

"Uh, yeah, sure, I guess. I didn't bring my hockey gear, though."

"We can rent some at the rink or something."

Kendall entered the house through the basement. On his way to finding Logan he passed James in the gym pumping iron. His small wave caught James's attention and that almost caused him to drop the barbell he was holding. Kendall laughed. James sat up, laid the barbell down, and smirked.

"Ice skating?" Kendall asked.

"Weight lifting."

"No, dummy, I mean do you want to go ice skating? Hockey? I am itching to get on the ice. Logan's coming."

"Oh, um, well, I am a bit sweaty and my hair's a me—" James paused. "Yeah, I'll go. I just need to clean myself up"

"Don't take too long. I told Paige we'd meet in fifteen minutes." He hadn't actually told her they'd meet just that he'd call her but he knew James and had to give him a short time limit.

"Five minutes. Wait, who's Paige?"

"She lives next door."

"What about Jo?"

"I don't think she'll make it here in time to meet us at the rink."

"Kendall," James pulled a face, "you know what I mean."

"What? I'm just inviting a neighbor to go skating with us."

"A neighbor who is a girl and let me guess, she's an attractive young woman."

"Young woman? Yes. Attractive? I dunno. I wasn't paying attention."

"How can you not be paying attention?"

Kendall shrugged.

"It's because the man's got Jo on his brain 24/7." Logan appeared in the room.

"James, go get ready. I promised her fifteen minutes."

"Fine, fine," James grumbled as he left the gym.

Five minutes later Kendall and Logan met up with James on the first level of the house. James had changed into a tight navy blue t-shirt, a pair of blue jeans, and a red Minnesota Wild baseball-style cap.

"What's that on your head?" Kendall asked.

"Funny you don't recognize the hat I'm borrowing from you."

"You don't usually wear that sort of thing, unless it's part of your outfit or fitting for whatever we're doing. That is…not that."

James made one of his trademark faces. "I didn't feel like doing my hair."

Logan immediately put a hand to James's forehead.

"He doesn't feel like he's got a fever."

James swatted Logan's hand away.

"I'm not sick. I just didn't feel like doing my hair. Is that a crime?"

"For anyone else? No. For you…"

James laughed sarcastically.

"OK," Kendall said stepping onto the ice wearing borrowed hockey skates and a hockey helmet, holding a hockey stick in one hand and a hockey puck in the other. James and Logan immediately followed. Paige, however, hung back by the entrance. Kendall turned to see her. "You do know how to skate?"

"Forwards and backwards." She smiled shyly. She put a toe, rather the edge of her skate blade, on the ice and then retracted it.

"You're not afraid, are you?" Logan asked.

"No," she squeaked.

James put his hand out.

"I'm—I'm okay." Paige tentatively stepped on the ice not letting go of the side wall. "I took lessons once," she admitted.

"Good. Just follow us." Kendall began skating around the perimeter of the empty rink. This is what he wanted. If he could live on the ice he probably would except it would be too cold and Jo didn't really like hockey, so she might be out. OK, no. He wouldn't do if it meant no Jo.

Well, if he was rich enough maybe he'd have an ice skating rink put in his next house.

Kendall dropped the hockey puck and smacked it across the ice.

"We're here to play," he announced. "Me and Logan against James and Paige."

"That means you have to let go of the wall," James said to Paige.

"I can do it," she said to herself and slowly edged further away from the wall.

"Come on!" James grabbed her hand and pulled her out in the middle of the ice. Then, he dropped her hand. "There."

"I thought you said you took lessons." Kendall skated up to them while Logan retrieved the puck.

"I did. Once. It's been, um, I think, gosh, I don't know, a long time? I was oh, gosh, in my teens."

"That can't have been that long ago," Kendall said.

"Fifteen years?"

"No!"

"Something like that."

"What was fifteen years?" Logan asked handing the puck to Kendall.

"When I was a teenager. Well, actually, it was eleven years ago I left my teenage years."

"Kendall, you invited an old lady to skate with us?! No wonder you put her on my team," James mock whined.

"Hey!" She aimed to push him but ended up getting her skates caught together and fell to her knees.

"See, she doesn't even know how to skate!"

"James, face off." Kendall dropped the puck and the hockey game began.

After thirty minutes Team Kogan was winning 6-2 over Team Pames due to Paige being such a newcomer to the sport of hockey and James having to help her out a lot.

"Break!" James shouted, skating over to exit the ice.

"Just because you're losing!" Logan exclaimed.

"Thanks for coming," Kendall said to Paige.

"I don't want to get you in trouble with your girlfriend."

"You won't." James tossed Kendall and Paige bottled waters. Kendall tore into his and downed half while Paige sipped hers.

"Come on. What would she say if she knew you were playing hockey with another woman?"

"I put you on James's team, so actually it's Lucy you have to worry about."

"His girlfriend?"

"My Lucy!" James declared. "Does this mean we can't hang out with pretty girls now?"

Paige's cheeks turned deep red.

"Aw, you embarrassed her!" Kendall said.

If it was possible Paige's cheeks turned even redder. She ducked her head into her hands.

"Again, thank you for joining us on the ice."

"I had fun. I just don't want you to get in trouble with your girlfriends."

"We're dating very understanding girls," Kendall decided.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Logan muttered.

* * *

**The two guys talking "smack" about Kendall remind me of the two guys on Rugrats (I know, my second Rugrats reference…I wasn't a huge fan growing up but I did watch them). Their names are Larry and Steve and are seen in such episodes as "Incident in Aisle Seven" and "Together at Last".**


	11. Chapter 11

"She's not answering!" Kendall hit redial on his phone. "I've called her seven times already and she hasn't answered a single one of my calls!"

"Obsess much?" Logan joked.

Logan sat on the couch in the living room with his laptop doing some work for school. He only had two classes but he was putting more than his heart and soul into them. Kendall sat in the brown recliner which was positioned at an angle to the couch with his legs dangling over the arm rather than have it in the reclining position.

"Jo said she had this morning off and I thought we could video chat, but she won't answer!"

"I'd call Camille and ask her what's up but she's currently in the air with your mom and Katie on her way here."

"Hey, Jo, call me when you get this. I thought you said you had the morning off. Well, maybe I got the day wrong. I don't know. Miss you. Love you." Kendall hung up his phone and placed it on the coffee table where Logan immediately stole it.

"Eight times is enough and I know that wasn't the first voice mail you left her."

Kendall pulled a face. "Just because your girlfriend is coming."

"That's right."

Kendall stood up and reached for his phone, but Logan held it away putting one hand on Kendall's chest so he couldn't move closer.

"Aha!" Kendall finally managed to claim his cell from Logan's grasp. He quickly hit the dial button twice to call the last number.

Logan just shook his head in defeat.

"It wouldn't matter," Kendall said when the phone went immediately to voice mail, "if I was here or there. She's so busy we wouldn't get to see each other anyway. I love that she's successful and I don't want to take that away," he hung up the phone after listening to her outgoing message, "but I do miss her."

Logan closed his laptop and placed it on the coffee table.

"Miss her later, because we have to pick everyone up at the airport."

"I see the grin on your face."

Logan put his hand over his mouth.

"What grin?"

Kendall removed the hand.

"That one. It's okay to be excited. I would be if I was in your shoes."

"Your feet are too big for my shoes."

"Carlos! James! We're going to the airport now!" Kendall called out hoping his voice reached to whatever corners of the house the other two were at, but being that it was such a big house that was unlikely. "Guys!"

Logan pulled his phone out and began texting.

"Who's John and Tom?" He asked Kendall.

"What?"

"Carlos texted back that he's out with John and Tom."

"Oh, those boys Carlos met."

James came down the stairs at that moment.

"Feeling better?" Logan asked.

"What?"

"You finally did your hair."

"Oh, ha ha. I wanted to look nice for Mama Knight and Katie."

"And Camille," Logan added.

"And Camille," James repeated.

Kendall, James, and Logan sat in the hard plastic airport chairs as they waited for flight 5546 from Denver to arrive at the terminal. He had received a text from Katie that they had arrived on time from Los Angeles to Denver where they transferred planes, but now they were forty-nine minutes late.

Logan tapped his foot on the floor, the shaking of his knee annoying Kendall. They were downstairs waiting by baggage claim. It used to be that one could wait for the arrival of whomever they were waiting on at the terminal, but Kendall didn't know about that. What he had learned was that 9/11 changed things and he had to wait elsewhere.

"Big Brother!"

"Baby Sister!"

Kendall and Katie ran at each other enveloping themselves in a tight hug. Following Katie was Camille who immediately wrapped herself in Logan's arms, surprisingly not knocking him over. Mrs. Knight hugged James who was the only one left. Behind his mother was—

"Jo!"

"Surprise!"

Kendall broke from his sister and enveloped his girlfriend in a good, long kiss. He thought he heard wolf whistling from James, but he didn't stop kissing Jo to make sure.

"What are you doing here?" He asked when they stopped to catch their breath.

"Jett got sick so I have today, tomorrow, and Friday off! I was supposed to shoot the opening scenes with him this week and with him sick nothing can get done."

"Oh that's too bad."

Jo playfully smacked his arm.

"You could at least pretend to show some sympathy."

"Eh, you know how I feel about Jett."

"He's not _that_ bad."

"OK, now you're done welcoming your girlfriend, how about giving your mom a hug?" Mrs. Knight pulled Kendall into her arms. "I feel like I barely get to see you anymore."

"With the three month tour and then them leaving the very next week for Colorado, I'd say yeah," Katie remarked.

"Where's Carlos?" Camille asked.

"He made new friends," James said a little sourly.

"What?"

"He met some new guys and has been hanging out with them this week. They like to ride skateboards," Kendall explained. "He invited me to hang out with them, but I dunno."

Did it bother Kendall that Carlos was hanging out with someone new? Well, no. They had all had their own friends over the years. He just hoped he didn't lose Carlos. Carlos, as well as James and Logan, was not just his best friend, but his brother. Losing one of them would be almost as bad if not worse than losing Jo.

"What's this?" Jo waved her cell phone in Kendall's face. "Nine missed calls and two voice messages!"

"Yep, looks like teenage boys live here," Mrs. Knight stated the minute they stepped into the house. "Have you cleaned a single dish since you've been here?" She entered the kitchen to see the sink overflowing with dirty dishes.

"Oh, Mom, we were just saving that for you," Kendall claimed.

"Technically, we're adults," Logan stated.

"Stop worrying about the mess and take a look at the place." Katie reached for her mom's hand to drag her around the house.

"Let's put your stuff away in your room." Kendall grabbed Jo's suitcase with one hand and her hand with the other. "I'm so glad you're here."

"Me, too. I've missed you terribly," Jo admitted.

"Not as much as he's missed you," James remarked following them up the stairs. "I could write a sad love song about the way he's been pining for you."

Kendall made to back hand James when his mom appeared out of nowhere.

"Girls go in the guest room." She pointed to one of the rooms connected by a bathroom. "Katie and I will share the other one."

"Aw, Mom!" Kendall whined knowing it would have no effect. It wasn't like he was going to try anything with Jo with his mom in the house anyway.

Later that day, Kendall sat on the couch snuggling with Jo and Logan sat on the same couch with his arm around Camille. Katie sat in the recliner with her phone. Kendall hoped she was playing a game and not bugging Austin. Maybe she moved on to another boy. He hoped she wasn't bugging him, either.

"She's becoming a teenager," Jo said. "It's only natural for her to like boys. You have to lighten up."

"I don't want to," Kendall grumbled.

"I'm with Jo on this one," Katie spoke up.

"Of course you are."

"I think it's cute," Camille commented.

"That's because she's not your sister."

"Hey, you know I'm right here!" Katie pulled a face. "I know you're just being the overprotective big brother, but you've got to let me live."

"I don't want to let you live," Kendall paused. "That came out wrong."

"I know what you mean," Katie laughed.

"I was okay when you started liking boys. I was okay when you went on a date with a boy, um, what was his name, Kyle?"

"I wasn't!" James shouted from the kitchen causing Katie to roll her eyes.

"I was even okay with you wanting to talk about boys in front of me with my best friends. But, for some reason now it's all becoming real."

"You're afraid of her growing up," Logan remarked. "We all are, really. I've known Katie since she was about three or four and now she's thirteen."

"Well, I've known Katie longer and I'm not going to sit and let some creepy guy take her to the movies!" James entered the living room holding a snickerdoodle in his hands given to him by Mrs. Knight.

"Is someone taking you to the movies?" Mrs. Knight asked following behind James.

"You have a date?" Kendall asked.

"No and no. James is referring to when I was dating Kyle. He wasn't creepy, but you're right, he wasn't for me. I need to be able to make those decisions on my own, though."

"Kendall, she's growing up," Mrs. Knight said. "As much as I hate it you all are."

"I'm sorry, Mom." Kendall got up and gave his mother a hug. "If I could stay a little kid I would just for you."

"Thanks, sweetie, but I like that you're older and potty trained."

Logan, Camille, Jo, Katie, and James laughed.

"Me, too." Jo jumped up and gave her boyfriend a peck on the cheek.

"Much better than a video chat," Kendall whispered in her ear.

"Carlos!" Katie exclaimed when the Hispanic boy walked in from the foyer holding his skateboard and wearing his helmet. "What'd you do to your chin?"

"Skateboarding fall with Alexa last week."

"Looks nasty."

"Gives me street cred." Carlos jutted his chin out causing Katie to roll her eyes.

That night after everyone had gone to bed Kendall quietly snuck out of his room and made his way to the guest bedroom closest to his which just so happened to be where the girls were situated. As it goes, the more one tries to be quiet the more noise one makes. As he stepped toward the door the floor squeaked.

"Oh please no one heard that," he begged silently.

As quietly as possible but still loud enough for someone on the other side to hear Kendall knocked on the bedroom door.

"Jo, there's noth—oh, hey, Kendall," Camille answered the door clad in a pair of green plaid pajamas.

Kendall put a finger to his lips indicating she should be quiet.

"If you're coming to see Jo I'll just slip out and visit Logan," Camille whispered slipping by Kendall. He watched her casually walk into Logan's room without even knocking.

Wearing a yellow shirt advertising the 2009 North Carolina Azalea Festival and a pair of short navy blue cotton shorts, Jo sat on the bed holding a stack of paper that Kendall could only assume was a script.

Kendall looked down at his attire of a white t-shirt and a pair of black basketball shorts. So, he didn't think he looked as cute as his girlfriend. That's why she was his girlfriend.

"I think you look cute," Jo whispered.

"Not as cute as you." He sat on the bed and put his lips on hers catching her off-guard. "Let's go back to my room so we don't have to whisper."

"Much better," Kendall said in a normal voice when they settled into his bed with the door closed. "What's this?" He took the stack of papers from Jo's hand.

"An updated version of the script for the movie. There's a few scenes they want us to reshoot, but after that and getting the intro scenes out of the way we should be done."

"And you'll be able to spend more time here?"

"Well…" she hesitated.

"What? Is there another project?"

"No, but there are a few auditions my agent wants me to go on," she admitted. "I'm sorry. I hate being away from you, but this is my career."

"And your career is more important than me," Kendall replied softly.

"What? No! Well, you're putting your career first by staying here to appease Griffin."

"No." Kendall looked away for a second. "OK, yeah."

"Yeah? Really? You're something else, Kendall Knight." Jo climbed off the bed, grabbed her script, and headed for the door. "I flew all the way out here just to see you for what amounts to two days and that's what you say?"

"It's not like that."

"Then what is it?" Jo put her hand on the door knob and then turned around. "Are we really having a fight about this?" She rubbed her face. "I'm sorry."

"Me, too." He motioned for her to join him back on the bed. "I've been in the band for four years and I still don't know how to deal with this."

"My career is important, but so are you." She tossed the papers to the side, placed her hands on Kendall's face, and gave him a passionate kiss on the lips.

* * *

**I've watched Survivor for years and I've watched Colton before, but watching this time I totally think he looks like Jett! I think they even dress alike! **

**News alert: The band did not break up. They're taking a break (and Kendall has said on Twitter that they took it out of context, so just hold on and see if/what they clarify...they will be performing Sunday night on Nick). Being a boy band is very demanding and they do have their own private lives that aren't a part of constant touring, album recording (and TV show filming—think about it, doing their show is a lot different than other sitcoms and even other Nick shows because it's both TV and boy band). No new stuff in the immediate future (as in this year, as in following the same road they've been on). I see them wanting to do more mature things (they are almost 25). This doesn't mean they're saying goodbye to BTR just that they need a break (and someone needs/wants to be with a certain girl he loves). Like I had Camille say in my story "[…] but you guys need the break. You've been working non-stop for four years." Real life they've been working for five years. With other shows after filming a season they go on hiatus. After filming a season of BTR what do they do? Go on tour. This is their chance to get the break they deserve. **


	12. Chapter 12

"Camille!" Logan squeaked standing next to the dresser in nothing but a pair of green and blue plaid boxers. His hands immediately went up to cover his chest and his privates. "Wha—" he cleared his throat. "What are you doing here?"

"Relax. I've seen you in your boxers before. I am your girlfriend."

"That's right." He took a gray t-shirt out of his dresser and pulled it over his head. One of the first things he did upon arriving was unpack his bags. He was going to be here for five months; he wasn't going to live out of a suitcase.

Logan sat down on his bed and patted the spot next to him where Camille immediately jumped.

"Kendall snatched Jo up so I thought I'd come see you. That's okay, isn't it?"

"Absolutely." He kissed her on the cheek. "How'd your audition go yesterday?"

"Really well, I think. They said they'd call tomorrow." She crossed her fingers. "It's the part of the crazy best friend who is in love with the main character's love interest's best friend, but he doesn't know it."

"That part was made for you."

Camille slapped him across the cheek.

"Are you calling me crazy?"

"When you do that, yeah." He rubbed his cheek. "But, that's why I love you."

"Aw, I love you, too, Logie." She leaned over and gave him a kiss on the spot she had slapped. After her lips touched his cheek Logan turned his head to get his lips onto hers.

"I'm so glad you came," he said into the kiss.

A rabid knock jolted Logan out of his wonderful dream of sitting by the Palm Woods pool with Camille while reading Future Doctor Magazine. Camille lay casually next to him with her brown hair splayed out over his pillow blinking her eyes open.

"Hortense Logan Mitchell!" Mrs. Knight yelled opening the door.

Logan almost fell out of bed when she walked into the room. James, Carlos, Kendall, and Jo appeared at the door to see what the commotion was. Mrs. Knight pulled the covers off the two to reveal they were in fact dressed in their pajamas.

"We didn't do anything!" Logan exclaimed as Mrs. Knight gave him the deadliest stare.

"I'm sorry." Camille made to get up and leave the room, but Mrs. Knight stopped her.

"I know you two are adults," Mrs. Knight sighed, "but, you have to understand the ramifications of your actions."

"We didn't do anything," Logan repeated. "We fell asleep talking."

"We didn't mean to!" Camille added.

"I don't want to see you-this again." Mrs. Knight waved her hand to indicate she meant the two together in bed. She turned around and left the room excusing herself between the others who were laughing silently at Logan and Camille being caught. "That goes for you, too," she glared at Kendall and Jo causing them to stop laughing.

Camille and Logan sat unable to look at each other at the kitchen table with plates of homemade waffles made by Mrs. Knight in front of them. They hadn't meant to sleep in the same bed last night. It had come up constantly from Camille that she should go back to her room so she wouldn't get caught. But, they kept talking until their eyes grew heavy and the next thing they knew Mrs. Knight was knocking the door down.

"What are our plans for the day?" Katie asked, sitting across from the couple and between her brother and James. Carlos sat on the other side of Logan opposite Kendall. Jo sat at one end next to Kendall and Mrs. Knight sat at the other.

"Well, I have class," Logan announced.

"Why don't you skip? That's what I'm doing."

"Katie!" Mrs. Knight scolded. "You told me the Palm Woods School was on break this week!"

"Aw, Mom. I'm gonna be a famous talent manager. I don't need school."

"I can't skip. I have a Calculus test." He turned to Camille still not able to look her in the eyes. "Why don't you come to class with me today?"

Camille looked torn. Logan knew this was something they did not have in common. He liked school and had dreams of one day becoming a doctor but Camille wanted to just be an actress.

"You don't have to if you don't want to."

"I do want to spend time with you."

"You can be my partner in my Biology lab."

"Ooh, Biology lab. Well, I do have an audition coming up as the daughter of a mad scientist."

"OK. I have Biology lab, Biology lecture, and the Calculus test."

Logan had to strongly convince Camille not to dress up like a scientist for the lab. They weren't A list celebrities, but they were famous now and he didn't want any more attention on them. He wasn't embarrassed by her, just that he didn't want the attraction of every person on campus. He wanted to be with her and only her.

"You still look like Logan when you wear that hat," Camille commented when he put his black baseball cap. "Actually, I think you look cuter."

"Hello, Partner."

"Alicia." Logan had conveniently forgotten about his lab partner.

"Alicia?" Camille whispered.

Camille was sitting on Alicia's stool and Logan knew Alicia was upset, but what could he do? He'd rather have his girlfriend sit next to him than a girl who pushed it upon herself to be his partner in both Biology classes.

"Alicia, this is my girlfriend, Camille. Camille, this is my lab partner, Alicia." He gave Camille a look telling her he'd explain later.

"Miss, please find a seat," the teacher's assistant ordered. "He doesn't have a partner." She pointed to a young blond boy sitting alone and looking kind of sad.

Alicia grumbled but took the empty stool next to the boy.

The day's lab was on dissecting earth worms. Since it was Logan's class, Camille let him cut the worm open. She spent the entire time trying to use the scientific words and be in her words "all science-y."

"What's next?" Camille bounced out of the lab after class.

"Biology lecture. Alicia's in there, too, and she might not be in a good mood." Logan was secretly hoping she would be mad and not sit with them.

"Who is she?"

Logan and Camille walked slowly toward McEzra Hall which wasn't very far from the lab.

"I told you about her. She's the girl who sat next to me in Biology claiming she has a sister who is fan. But, honestly, I think it's her. She's a little," he made the crazy motion with his hand, "but it is nice having something of a friend in class." A flash of light interrupted his thoughts. "Damn, paparazzi." He pulled Camille inside the building.

"Does that happen a lot?"

"A few times a day, but not too often. There'll probably be something in some magazine about you attending school here."

"Eh." She shrugged. "Any publicity is good publicity."

"It's true!" a brunette girl with freckles across her nose exclaimed standing so close to Logan it caused him to jump and almost knock Camille over. "I'd heard the rumors, but I just thought they were rumors, you know?"

Camille stepped in between the screaming fangirl and Logan.

"Why didn't you tell me?" She shouted at Logan.

Logan was about to ask what he was supposed to tell her, but she didn't give him a chance.

"Is this the girl?" She thrust her right index finger in the girl's face. "How dare you!" She raised her arm to slap her, but Logan quickly grabbed it and dragged her into the lecture hall.

"You can't just slap innocent people!"

"She—I—I was just trying to help you!"

"Thank you for that, but I don't want you to cause another incident when you slap her."

"Are you mad at me?"

"No, I'm not mad. I'd probably be so if you slapped her and the police came to cart you away. C'mon, let's go find our seats."

"Hey," Camille followed behind Logan, "if she's a BTR fangirl maybe she'd find a slap by Camille Roberts thrilling."

Logan chose a seat in the last row like he usually did. He didn't like sitting in the corner, but he seriously thought about it so Camille would sit on one side and there'd be no side for—

"Alicia."

"Hey, Logan. Sorry I couldn't be your lab partner today, but we still got Biology." She dropped herself into the chair on Logan's right.

"No problem. Camille here was kind enough to lend me her help." He squeezed his girlfriend's shoulders.

"Um yeah. Is she enrolling in this school, too?"

"No, I'm just here for the weekend," Camille answered.

"Too bad."

Camille sent the girl daggers with her eyes. Logan wanted to laugh but that was rude and so unbecoming of him.

"That girl's got something for you bad," Camille commented as they headed toward R Hall.

"It's creepy. She doesn't even know me. She just thinks she does from what she sees in the media."

"That's the price of fame, unfortunately."

"And she hates you all because you're dating me." Logan stopped in front of the building. "It's a test so you can't come with me, but I could meet you in the library or you could sit out here. It's a little chilly, but it's nice outside."

"I'll figure something out." She patted him on the arm. "Don't worry about me. Good luck on the test." She leaned in to give him a kiss on the lips.

"Thanks. I'm so glad you're here," he whispered.

Fifty minutes later, Logan turned his test paper into his professor, made his way out of the classroom, and out of the building to a cluster of benches near some trees where he noticed Camille putting away her phone.

"That was my agent."

Logan couldn't tell by her voice whether it was good news or bad news. He put a hand on her arm to reassure her in case it was bad.

"I," she paused, "I got the part!"

Logan swept her into a big hug.

"It's a web series. We'll be filming five episodes and then see how it goes from there."

"You'll be great. I'll watch it. We'll make sure it gets tons of views. You deserve it."

"Thanks. We start filming at the end of next month."

"Well, you better do a lot of visiting before then."

Camille made to slap him, but Logan reacted faster, grabbed her arm, and pulled her into a kiss, but before kissing her he said, "I know, you want me to visit you, too."

Camille and Logan did not hang out that night after everyone went to bed. They both wanted to, but they were afraid of getting caught by Mrs. Knight again that they didn't risk it.

Instead, they woke up early when the sun was just peaking over the mountains and walked to a nearby coffee shop. Neither were big coffee drinkers, but ordering a fancy coffee and walking around town, just the two of them and the morning dew seemed the right thing to do.

"You're going to become a big star and leave me behind," Logan spoke casually as Camille paused to look in the window of a dress shop.

"What?" She turned from looking at a green ¾ sleeve dress. "That's what I worry will happen to you."

"Me?"

"You're the one going on the tours and making music videos with hot girls. You already are a big star."

"I'm just…"

"Big Time Rush," she finished. "How can I not think you'll find someone prettier than me, more talented than me, less crazy than me?"

Logan grabbed her hand and pulled her closer.

"Because that person doesn't exist."

She turned back to the window. "You're just trying to flatter me."

"Even if that person did exist it wouldn't matter. I'm not attracted to that. I'm attracted to you."

Camille turned again to look at her boyfriend.

"You've changed."

Logan froze not sure he would like what's coming next.

"No, I mean, when I first met you you were shy and uncomfortable around girls, namely me. But, now? You initiate kisses. You compliment me. Thank you, I do appreciate it."

"You deserve it."

"It leaves me wondering if now you've gained more confidence around girls that you'll have the ability to leave me for something better."

"The only reason I have any confidence is because of you." Logan took hold of her hand and led her away from the window, casually strolling down the sidewalk. Passing by a trash can he threw his empty coffee cup away. Camille continued to sip on hers.

"You don't understand how popular you are."

"Me? I'm the least popular of the group. I'm not the pretty face like James, the leader like Kendall, or the wild and crazy one like Carlos. I'm the nerd."

"You've got fangirls squeeing over you all over campus. I see them even if you don't. You can't forget Alicia."

"She did say I was her sister's favorite, but that's just one girl."

"No, Logan, that's a lot of girls. You have more fans than you realize. You are fanworthy." She kissed his cheek. "Are we depressing or what?"

"No, we just lack the self confidence in ourselves to see how good we really are. " Logan stopped walking. "Dude, we are pathetic."

"No, no, we're not. Like you said we just lack self-confidence. But, you're in an extremely successful boy band and I just landed a role on a web series, so we've got something going for us. But what's most important is I love you and you love me."

* * *

**Fixed a mistake in chapter 2 where I said Jo went to Australia. I know she went to New Zealand but for some reason I tend to say Australia instead of NZ. Sorry, New Zealanders! I don't mean to do it! I know New Zealand is a completely separate country. It'd be like saying I lived in Canada when I really live in the USA (or rather that someone lives in America when they really live in Canada). I do apologize.**

**I love reading old stories on here, written during seasons 1, 2, and 3 of the show. It's cute reading the writer's reactions to an episode! And everyone paired Carlos and Stephanie together after season 1! She was in exactly two episodes and Carlos never really dated her. She clearly wanted to take him to the dance, but even then all they got was one dance. Anyway…**

**Also, I have a question as a Harry Potter fan. What house would James go into? (Showverse only) Kendall gets Gryffindor, Logan gets Ravenclaw, and Carlos gets Hufflepuff. Is James cunning enough for Slytherin or is he a fit for Hufflepuff or Gryffindor (he's no Ravenclaw)? I like to sort all my favorite characters into HP houses and James has become the one I can't fit into any of them.**


	13. Chapter 13

Trying to clear his head after a long day spent with Kendall, Carlos (surprisingly did not hang out with his new skateboarding buddies like he had the first three days of the week), Jo, Katie and Mrs. Knight, James returned to what he dubbed Lucy's Park as it was the spot where they had their talk after the double date. He had been walking around the small pond but decided to take a rest on one of the benches on the path. It was a nice little park with some elderly women feeding some ducks at the other end of the pond.

It really hit him what Lucy had said. If his own girlfriend thought that he was so shallow and vain, which she tried to assure him she did not but he knew better, than what did other people think? Was it so wrong to care about how he looked?

He wasn't like other guys he knew, including his three best friends, including most other Hollywood guys. His hair was so important to him. He had to look just right, dress just right, and smell just right. He wasn't comfortable any other way. Was that so wrong?

He had tried this past week to not think about it. A few days he even wore Kendall's cap instead of fixing his hair. He still couldn't stop thinking about it. Would wearing the cap cause him to go bald earlier? What if he did go bald? Would he wear a toupee? Would he look good without hair? The thoughts drove him crazy. He finally went back to fixing his hair, which he claimed was to look nice for Mama Knight and Katie's arrival, but it was really to keep him from going insane.

Lucy had said there was much more to him than his love of his appearance, but he didn't know. Was she just saying that because she was his girlfriend? His friends often joked about his Cuda obsession and how his hair had to be perfect. They didn't talk about much else, except maybe that he wasn't the brightest bulb on the porch.

He wasn't stupid. No, he wasn't Logan smart and if he took an IQ test he would probably rank in the average range (he thinks, but who knows?), but that wasn't stupid. His knowledge aside from hockey and music was on fashion, hair care, and girls. Those were his passions and he didn't care to learn about much else. That didn't make him stupid.

A duck quack brought him out of his thoughts and as he looked toward the offender he spotted a book sitting on the bench. Picking it up he noticed it was _The Holy Bible._

James had never read the Bible. His father was of Jewish heritage but he didn't exactly grow up in a religious home. His family was non-practicing. What he knew of Judaism he learned from his paternal grandparents and that wasn't much. What he did know they did not read the Bible. The Bible was a Christian book.

He flipped the book open to where a bookmark, an Aspen State student ID, lay.

The picture was of a young girl, perhaps eighteen, with long blonde hair and deep blue eyes, the opposite of his girlfriend, Lucy. She was pretty, James had to admit, but he no longer felt the sensation he got when looking at a pretty girl. He smiled knowing it was because his heart was with Lucy.

_Fallon Maholm._

Pretty name. He knew he'd at least have to get the ID to her.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God," James read. This was new to him. Well, he did know that God and the Word were one, but he'd never read The New Testament much less The Gospel of John. He was only very slightly familiar with anything in the Torah, so anything from a religious text outside the Torah was foreign to him. "He was with God," he continued to read.

He quickly closed the book and shook his head. Yes, the Word was God, but the He spoken of? No. James had been taught that he was just another man, not the Messiah. His parents believed Jesus was just another prophet, but that didn't make sense. If he wasn't the Messiah but went around claiming he was he was committing blasphemy. He couldn't just be another prophet.

James rubbed his head. All this thinking was giving him a headache.

He looked back at the ID. This was Fallon's book so maybe she had the answers. But, what were the questions?

"Hey, James," Mrs. Knight greeted him when he came home. The layout of the house to get anywhere from the foyer one had to pass the kitchen. "Dinner will be ready in five minutes."

He sniffed his nose. Smelled like hamburgers.

"Hamburgers and mac & cheese," Mrs. Knight clarified.

James spied a blue box on the counter. Good. After that debacle at the award show he never wanted to see another box of Sharky's again, even if Griffin was somehow involved in the company now. The other boys felt the same way, except Carlos. He credited the stuff for getting him and Alexa together.

"Are you okay?" Mrs. Knight asked placing ten glasses on the counter. "You ran off as soon as we got home and now you're standing there looking lost."

"I'm fine." James patted her head, not sure why he did that, which caused her to scowl, and then made his way toward the living room where Logan and Camille were flipping through channels on the television.

"Logan, do you know a girl named Fallon Maholm?"

"No." Logan looked away from the screen and at James. "Is that a Bible?"

"Yeah, I found it in the park. It belongs to Fallon."

"Why do you think Logan would know her?" Camille asked.

"She left her ASU student ID in the book. Maybe he has a class with her." James shrugged.

"Look her up in the student directory."

"I don't have one."

"It's online aspenstate dot com."

"Oh." James pulled his phone out of his pocket after placing the book on the end table near Camille. He quickly pulled up the website and began searching first for the student directory and then for Fallon Maholm.

As he was searching, the familiar strains of "Big Time Rush" played through his phone. Ah, someone was calling James. Maybe it was Fallon! Maybe she looked James up to get her book back. Wait, she didn't even know James had her book.

"James!" Lucy exclaimed before he had a chance to say hello.

"Lucy!" He exclaimed back. He walked up the stairs so he could have a more private conversation with his girlfriend than in front of Logan and Camille who were trying to watch TV.

"Just finished the music video for 'He Will Be Mine'."

"Does it have to be that one?" James whined.

Most of Lucy's album dealt with her relationship with Kendall. It wasn't that she was obsessed or in love with him. He just gave her great inspiration. James wasn't happy about that and hoped she could find more inspiration in him.

"My producer and I think it'll be a big hit. It has nothing to do with anything else, James."

"OK. OK," he said more to reassure himself than Lucy.

"So, what are you up to?"

"Searching the ASU directory for a girl named Fallon Maholm," he admitted without thinking.

"What? Why? James, why are you searching for a girl's contacts? Is something going on there that I need to know about?" Lucy frantically questioned. James knew beneath her tough exterior was a scared little girl. She hasn't had the easiest relationships so it was only natural for her to think the worst.

"Nothing, nothing, nothing. I found her student ID and want to return it to her."

"Get someone else to do it. Logan's taking classes there. He can do it."

"I need to talk to her." He could slap himself for saying that.

"Why do you need to talk to her?" Lucy asked with a tone of bitterness.

James didn't know how to respond. He wasn't comfortable discussing this issue with the Bible with anyone. He wasn't even sure he was comfortable talking to Fallon about it being that she's a complete stranger, but he had to at least return her ID and book.

"James! If you don't want to tell me anything then I can't talk to you. I'm sorry, but…"

"Lucy, don't you trust me?"

"I—I don't—I. I want to. Just tell me why you need to talk to this girl?"

"I have some questions I'm hoping she can answer," he admitted as little as possible hoping this would satisfy Lucy.

"And just what are these questions?"

"I—I—"

"If you can't tell me how do you expect me to trust you?"

"Because I love you?"

"I love you, too, but if you can't answer me I'm not sure I can trust you."

"Lucy? Lucy?" He looked at his phone. She hung up on him. Oh boy, this was not going well.

* * *

**Yes, I am Christian. I am not trying to convert anyone to Christianity with this story. This is just the direction I want James to take. Is he going to become Christian? You'll see if you keep reading. I have heard that Maslow attended Hebrew School as a child so he would have had a lot of Jewish education whereas here in my story, Diamond did not, but I made him from a paternal Jewish family just like Maslow.**

**I'm actually very nervous about this chapter because I don't know how you all will react, but this is where I want to go with the story so that's where I'm going.**


	14. Chapter 14

"Thanks for helping me." Jo kissed her boyfriend on the lips before grabbing the handle on her black wheeled suitcase.

"Of course," Kendall replied. "Let me get that." He reached for the suitcase but his hand was swatted away by Jo's. "I'm the boyfriend. I carry the heavy things."

"And I'm not a damsel in distress. I can handle it. Here, you carry my purse." She nodded her head toward the bag on the bed.

"Aw," Kendall whined grabbing the bag and following Jo out of the room. When they reached the stairs he made for the suitcase and practically pushed the purse in Jo's arms. He gave her a gotcha grin as he headed down the steps.

"We're flying in Sunday evening at 10," Camille said hugging Jo. "So, I probably won't see you til Monday, but you'll be filming so best chance will be that evening, but more likely I won't see you til Tuesday."

"I'll call you when I land, well, after I call Kendall."

Jo hugged everyone else, including Katie and Mrs. Knight, but not Carlos. He was back out with his new buddies again. Only Kendall was taking her to the airport.

Pulling out of the driveway, Kendall waved to his next door neighbor.

"Who's that?" Jo asked. Kendall thought he heard a hint of accusation, but he ignored it.

"Paige Godfrey," he replied nonchalantly.

Jo's eyes widened. "The author? You live next door to Paige Godfrey? Why did you not tell me?" She slapped him on the shoulder.

"No accosting the driver!"

"So." Kendall parked the SUV in the loading/unloading zone, climbed out of the driver's seat, pulled Jo's suitcase from the back, and now stood before her.

"So," she repeated.

"This, us, is sort of long distance, but it's nothing we can't work through. I love you, Jo." Kendall wrapped her in a hug. "I think you coming out here was worse than you not coming at all."

"What? Why?" Jo tried pulling away but Kendall's grip grew tighter.

"Because now we have to say goodbye again."

"Kendall, you're making me cry!"

Kendall wiped the tears from her left cheek using his thumb.

"Well, um, you're just a plane ride away, just one time zone over, just til the end of December," she said.

"You're saying that to make yourself feel better."

"Yeah," Jo admitted looking down at her feet.

Kendall raised her chin and planted his lips on hers.

"I gotta go." Jo broke away a few seconds later. "This is the last flight to LA for the day and I can't miss it. We're back to filming tomorrow. I'm pretty sure I'd be killed by a producer or something if I didn't show up because I missed my flight."

"So, Jett's feeling better, huh?"

"That's what I was texted this morning."

Kendall looked into her brown eyes wet with unshed tears. He tried blinking away the tears in his own eyes. He had to be a man. He couldn't cry.

"This is stupid." Kendall wiped his eyes. "I mean…"

"I know."

"But, it feels like my heart is breaking."

Jo just nodded. Kendall couldn't look in her eyes any longer. He wanted to, but he knew if he did he would start crying again. Ugh, this was ridiculous! They'd been apart before. When he went on tour, when she moved to New Zealand (though technically they broke up and he had sort of "moved on"), and of course the time that had elapsed from when the guys came to Colorado until Jo's surprising visit this past Wednesday. So, why did this departure hurt so much worse?

Jo stood on tiptoe to kiss Kendall one last time. He relished in the kiss, letting his tongue slip past her slightly parted lips. Oh, how he didn't want this to end.

"But, it has to." Jo pulled away. "I'm sorry, but if I don't go now I'm really going to miss my flight."

"I love you, Jo."

"I love you, too, Kendall."

He watched her roll her suitcase to the door and disappear inside the airport. Then, he let the tears fall.

"OK, Mopey McMoperson," Katie stripped the blanket off Kendall. "This is our last day here and you're not going to spend it lying around the house moping over Jo."

Kendall moaned. On top of pulling his comforters off his bed, Katie had also opened the blinds to let the bright sun stream into his room.

"Up, up, up. Mom, Camille, and I leave this evening."

Reluctantly, Kendall sat up.

"Hey, you're worse than Mom, Baby Sis!"

"Yeah, well, I'd rather look at something other than you moaning and groaning on the couch like you did yesterday."

"Not hungry," Kendall said as his mom placed a bowl of cereal in front of her son. The rest of the guys and girls had gotten their own breakfast but he had sat there staring at nothing for the past fifteen minutes.

"Not this again," Logan muttered. Camille nudged him.

"You'll feel better if you eat something. C'mon, your sister wants to check out the mountains. You'll need your energy," his mother encouraged him.

"I'm not spending the day watching you lie around moping over Jo," Katie said over a mouthful of her own cereal. "There's Aspen and Williams Mountain looks to be the next closest according to the map." Katie pointed to spots on the paper map she had unfolded in front of her. James pointed to a spot and Carlos nodded. At what, Kendall didn't know and didn't care to ask.

"I'm sorry. I just don't have the appetite. I'll go with you to either mountain but I just don't have the appetite to eat anything. We can go hiking, but the ski resorts are closed. "

"You're not sick, are you?" Mrs. Knight put a hand to his forehead at the same time as Katie exclaiming she didn't want to ski.

"Yes, he is," James spoke up. "He's heartsick."

"He misses Jo," Carlos added like anyone needed clarification.

"Kendall and Jo sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g," Katie sang.

"First comes love," James joined in.

"Then comes marriage," Logan joined.

"Then comes Kendall pushing a baby carriage," Carlos helped finish.

"That better not be for a good while," Mrs. Knight added.

After breakfast and everyone getting cleaned up for they were all still in their pajamas at the breakfast table, the group headed out to Snowmass Village. The place was known for its skiing, but the group figured they could find some interesting things to do in the area without snow.

"Jo would like this," Katie said.

"Well, she would!" Kendall exclaimed.

"We know. That's all you've said the entire time we've been here," Logan said.

"I wish she was here to enjoy this."

"Yeah, so do I," muttered Carlos. "Then, we wouldn't have to hear it from you."

The group had been walking around some shops to finish off the day after grabbing a bite to eat. They would be leaving directly from Snowmass to the Aspen Airport. It never failed every window they passed Kendall would say something along the lines of Jo liking it or looking good in it or enjoying it.

"Actually, Jo would just enjoy walking around window shopping like this."

"You really miss her," Camille commented slowing down to walk in step with Kendall.

He nodded slowly. He didn't mean to make it that obvious but she was on his mind all the time. 24/seven, he could say.

"She misses you, too. Hanging out with her, she's not the same. She was almost this bad while you guys were on tour, but I don't know."

"Yeah, I don't know. I missed her on tour, but this is…it's like it grew, you know?"

"I know." Camille stole a glance back at Logan.

Kendall hugged his mom and sister. They were standing outside the airport in much the same place he stood with Jo two days before. Logan had gotten out of the van to give Camille her goodbye kiss. James and Carlos climbed out to help everyone with their luggage.

"Now, you have the list for all the stuff we want you to ship us?" Kendall asked.

"Yes," Mrs. Knight pulled it out of her pocket. "I see someone's added something new."

"Pathetic, Big Brother. You know Mom can't just ship Jo out here for you."

"Worth a shot."

"Honey, why don't you come home with us?" Mrs. Knight said. "I know, I know. You have to impress Griffin and do what he says. I get that. But, I'm sure you'll be okay spending a week back at the Palm Woods."

Return to the Palm Woods? Was that even an option? Gustavo told them not to mess this up. Would spending a week in LA and not Colorado be considered messing this up? Kendall couldn't tell you what went on in Griffin's head so he honestly had no idea.

"If anyone has a problem with it they'll have to deal with me," she added.

"You can come, too, Logan!" Camille squealed.

"But, I have class."

"Seriously?" James and Carlos exclaimed.

"Seriously?" Camille echoed.

"Well…" Logan looked ashamed right up until Camille slapped him.

"Logan Mitchell, am I not more important to you than class?"

"You are, you are!"

Camille grabbed Logan's hand and pulled him toward the airport door. The rest of the group followed.

"We need two tickets to LA please," Camille practically shouted to the lady at the ticket counter. "The next flight, the one leaving in an hour."

The lady typed quickly into her computer.

"I'm sorry; I'm only seeing one ticket available."

"You take it," Logan said to Kendall.

If looks could kill Logan would be dead.

"No, no, I don't mean I don't want to go. I mean, there's only one ticket. Kendall deserves it more than me. I got two extra days with you. Kendall doesn't take classes at the university. I'll FaceTalk you every night."

"Oh, Logie, I know school is very important to you. I'll call _you_ every night." She kissed him on the cheek.

Kendall handed the car keys to Logan and turned to the lady at the counter.

"I'll take it."

_Please come down to the lobby. I have a surprise for you. _Camille texted as they pulled into the Palm Woods parking lot later that evening. Mrs. Knight parked the car and all four of them climbed out, grabbing their respective bags, Kendall helping the girls with theirs as he had none. They entered the lobby the same time as Jo stepped off the elevator in a pair of pink pajamas and fluffy house slippers. Mrs. Knight pulled Katie away so they wouldn't be a distraction, but they stayed to watch.

"What's the surprise, Camille?" Jo yawned.

Kendall stepped out from behind Camille where he'd been hiding which was odd because he was taller than her and he wasn't crouching down or anything.

"Kendall! What are you doing here?" She threw her arms around him.

"I missed you, so I flew back with Mom, Katie, and Camille."

"I missed you, too. I want to stay here with you, but I gotta get up early. I'm shooting my final scene with Jett tomorrow. Knowing you're in the Palm Woods will help me sleep. The limo's coming to pick me up at 7AM. Would you like to join me?"


	15. Chapter 15

"Good morning," Kendall said dully sliding into the limo next to Jo and kissing her on the cheek. He yawned after kissing her. Six AM was too early for anyone to get up, he decided, which is what time he woke up to be able to catch her limo at seven.

"Not use to the early mornings, are we?" Jo joked.

"We have to do them every now and then, but honestly, no."

"I thought you were on that break or whatever it is," Jett spoke revealing himself on the other side of Jo.

"Came back to visit me," Jo replied.

"Didn't you just return from visiting him?"

"You have a problem with that?" Jo asked.

"No problem." Jett leaned back against the seat putting his hands up. He pulled a handkerchief out of his jean pocket and rubbed his nose.

"So glad we got the kissing scenes out of the way," Jo remarked in a whisper.

Kendall groaned at the thought of Jo and Jett kissing.

The limo pulling into Colossal Studios made Kendall's heart race. He had been to the studios many times before and he wasn't some star-struck teenager seeing all the behind-the-scenes Hollywood stuff for the first time, but he had to admit, there was excitement rushing through his veins. He loved seeing his girlfriend at work.

When the limo parked, Jett made for one trailer while Jo headed toward another.

"He likes to go to hair and makeup first, last, and in between." Jo rolled her eyes. "I like stopping by my trailer first thing." She opened the door. "Jett and I are the only ones with our own private trailers." She winked at Kendall sending tingles down his spine.

Kendall really enjoyed spending time with Jo on the set of her TV movie. He followed her from her trailer to wardrobe to hair and makeup to the outdoor scene she would be filming. He hadn't seen her in action since the day he was kicked off the New Town High set.

This was the scene where Erin, Jo's character, meets David, Jett's character, for the first time. The set in front of them was a street in a neighborhood in a town in the USA. David would be walking down the street while Jo was busy on her front lawn. Kendall wanted to pay attention but the second the director said "Action!" his mind drifted to a scene of himself, Jo, and a little toddler playing together on that front lawn.

"Mommy's going to get you!" Jo exclaimed running after the kid. Kendall got there first scooping the kid up and tickling her tummy causing the girl to laugh. "OK, Mommy's going to get Daddy!" She ran to Kendall and began tickling him.

"I get Mommy!" The little girl said reaching out to tickle Jo. Little kids aren't very good ticklers so Jo pretended it worked and laughed like everyone else. The three of them fell to the grass laughing and tickling each other.

"Earth to Kendall!" Jo waved her hands in front of his face. "I asked what did you think of the scene?"

"Nice. Nice. You did a good job," Kendall responded returning from his daydream.

"Nice? Jett completely tripped over the crack in the sidewalk! I flubbed a line and when we redid the scene he tripped. Are you in there?" Giving him a smile, she lightly tapped his forehead.

"Sorry, just thinking about something."

"OK." She gave him a look as she took the water bottle she was handed and sat down in the chair labeled "Jo Taylor" next to the one Kendall sat in which had no name attached to it. "We're almost done with this scene."

"And then you're done for the day?"

"Well, no. This afternoon they want us to redo the scene where Erin breaks up with David. Here's something I know you'll like. I get to make Jett cry."

"Looking forward to that."

"And then after that, we're all done filming, unless they decide there's something else they want us to reshoot, but that probably won't happen."

"You'll be done for the rest of the week?"

"Didn't say that. I'll just be done filming."

"You are one busy girl. What do you have left this week?"

"Some press stuff for the movie, photo shoots and what not, and a couple of auditions. All the free time I have I want to spend with you. I missed you."

"You're the reason I'm here." He leaned over and pecked her lips.

"I gotta get back. Break's over."

The rest of the day Kendall couldn't shake the image of him and Jo playing with the little girl. He felt so much emotion when he saw the little girl's face. She looked a lot like Jo but also like his sister, Katie. She was a good mixture, a pretty mixture, of the both of them.

"That's what I want my daughter to look like," he said out loud.

"What?" Jo asked. They were in the limo with Jett on their way back to the Palm Woods.

"Are you pregnant?" Jett asked.

"What? No. No. Kendall and I never—no. No! Kendall?"

"Sorry," Kendall laughed at Jo's response earning a punch on the arm. "I've just had this scene play in my head all day. It involves a little girl who looks like you combined with my sister. If I ever have a daughter I want her to look like that. I wish you could see inside my head to see how beautiful she is."

~..~

Clutching the Bible and the ID James rode the elevator to the 7th floor of K. Frost Hall. He stepped off and headed for room 707. He knew he was in the right place because the door had two paper balloons taped to it with the names Alicia McMillian and Fallon Maholm written in black marker. James took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

"Hey," the girl stopped short at the sight of him but quickly regained her composure, "you're the one who found my ID?"

"I'm James Diamond." He stuck his hand out for a shake which she accepted.

"I thought you were joking when you gave that name over the phone," she said with a slight laugh.

"Nope, no joke. It's really me." He handed her the Bible with the ID sticking out in the book of John. "I'm hoping you can answer some questions for me." He pointed to the book.

"Um, well…I can try my best." She grabbed her purse which allowed James an opportunity to look inside the room.

"Dorm rooms sure are small," he commented.

"You have no idea. Are you able to go to lunch? I can try to answer your questions there."

James agreed and the two of them headed towards the Student Activity Center. After getting their food they found a small table near the back corner where they felt they could privately have their conversation and perhaps James wouldn't be spotted.

James had many questions. He didn't know where to begin. Was what his parents believed true or was this new stuff true? Was any of it true? Maybe it's all a story.

"How do I know any of this is true?" He asked.

Fallon began to explain her beliefs giving James her testimony. For most of her life she'd grown up in the church, but during her middle school years her family stopped attending. Her mom and dad fought a lot and during those years they divorced. The divorce led her to depression due to the stress of being torn between her parents. Fallon was an only child so she didn't have anyone to share this with. In high school a friend invited her to First Priority, a group of Christians meeting in the morning before school once a week. Fallon hadn't turned away from God or Christianity, but she hadn't felt particularly led to it. Meeting with these students helped relieve her of her stress and understand what was happening. Another girl invited her to church and about a month later she gave her heart to God.

"But, how do you know any of this is true?" James repeated once she was done.

"Because it says so in the Bible." She tapped the book as she spoke.

"OK, I get that. It says so in there. But, what makes there the truth?"

"What do you believe?"

"I don't know. I was raised in a non-religious home with a Jewish father. My grandmother is the only one in my family who I know actually went to Temple. My mom divorced my dad because he was cheating on her with a woman 15 years younger. That doesn't lead me to put much stock in Judaism."

"Would you call yourself agnostic?"

"Agnostic?"

"It's kind of like atheism, except instead of not believing in God you don't know if there is one."

"Can I be agnostic about being agnostic? I don't know what I believe."

"I'd say you're agnostic with a background in Judaism if that makes sense. I can't really answer your question on why I believe the Bible. It's a feeling. It's faith. I'm not a theologian. I don't have the answers. I'm sorry. You should read John."

"I did. That's why I have these questions."

"Well, that's a start." She looked at his confused face. "Why don't you join me for church on Sunday? I go to the little church down the street from the university. We have service at 10:30. I can come pick you up?"

"You'd be going so far out of your way."

"It's not a problem."

"How about I come by your dorm room at 10?"

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"Great, I'll see you Sunday morning at 10."

* * *

**Finally watched season 3, so except for the Christmas episode, I'm all caught up. I could download it from Amazon or something, but I'm going to wait until they show it on TeenNick. It allows me to have one last "new" BTR episode for a while longer. I do think they'll show it in December. I watched this show unconventionally: season 1, season 2, season 4, and then season 3. But, I'm all caught up and have all the answers. **

**November 2 1990: Thanks for your review. **

**Oh, yes, I've been meaning to mention this but I keep forgetting. In July I took a trip to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Two weeks ago I went back. On the way into Gatlinburg from Pigeon Forge there is a convenience store named KenJo. I know Scott Fellows wanted Kendall to choose Lucy, but I swear this is just one more sign that he was wrong and the fates were right (was it fate that Malese Jow had another project she wanted to work on so she left the show and Katelyn Tarver stayed?). [Déjà vu or did I write something like this before after my trip in July?]**


	16. Chapter 16

"Long time no see," James greeted Carlos. Carlos had been out with his new friends but as it started raining they dispersed. He had just walked through the front door and into the living room not expecting to see his pretty boy best friend.

"Is that a book?" Carlos scrunched his brow trying to make out the title. "Is that the Bible?"

"Maybe." James went back to the book. "Sh, I'm reading."

"I didn't know you could read."

James sarcastically laughed and made to swipe Carlos's head but ended up hitting his hand on the helmet instead. Carlos stuck his tongue out at him.

"Gonna play video games. Wanna join me?"

James looked at the Bible then at Carlos.

"You're on."

After fifteen minutes of James battling Carlos for snowboarding glory on the Wii Logan joined them.

"Class finished early today," he announced.

"Let's start over and compete with Logan," Carlos said.

"You don't have to. I'll just watch."

"No, it's more fun when we all play." Carlos restarted the machine. "Hey, is anyone hungry? I'm going to see if we have any corn dogs left."

"I think you ate the last one for breakfast," Logan called out but Carlos was too far up the stairs to hear him.

"I don't like him hanging out with those boys," James commented.

"You're just jealous he's found different friends."

"It's not that. He comes home he's all different. He's not…" James stopped talking when Carlos reappeared munching out of an O'Chippigan's potato chip bag.

"No corn dogs?" Logan asked.

"We had some; I just didn't feel like waiting for them to cook." He offered the bag to Logan and James. "Chip?"

"No thanks," James said as Logan reached into the bag and took a chip out.

"Hey, John and Tom are having a party tomorrow night and said you could come." Carlos had stuffed a handful of chips in his mouth and now the crumbs were flying out as he spoke.

"I don't know." James dramatically wiped his face with the back of his hand.

"Maybe we should get to know them," Logan said. "Get to know the people Carlos is hanging out with."

"I'm glad you guys came," Carlos bounced out of the SUV as Logan parked it in the already crowded street in front of a very nice sized cabin. "Come on. I'll introduce you to everybody."

"You go on ahead." Logan suggested.

"'K." Carlos bounced up the walkway to the door. Instead of ringing the bell he just walked right on in.

"I wish Lucy was here." James straightened his collar and followed the path Carlos made.

"Is she more of a people person than you?" Logan joked.

"I don't feel right about this." James opened the front door to a loud cacophony of music and people. He recognized some of the party-goers as some of the elite upper class, a few movie and music stars in there, but most of the people he had never seen before.

"Hey, you're friends of Carlos?" a dark haired man hugging a blonde scantily clad woman asked. "Steve."

"James."

"Logan."

"Big Time Rush," The girl whispered loud enough for James and Logan to hear. "Nice to meet you."

"Yeah, thanks."

"Would you like to dance?" The girl ran her hand up James's arm.

"I have a girlfriend."

"So? What she doesn't know won't hurt her."

"But, it'll hurt me." James released himself from her grip.

"I'm impressed," Logan said when the two walked away from the girl. "You turned down a girl for Lucy all on your own. James Diamond is growing up."

"Hey, I've done that before."

"When?"

"Uh… Well, it doesn't matter because I'm doing it now. I love Lucy."

"You're a changed man."

An hour later James found himself on the couch talking to two professional snowboarders while drinking a beer someone handed to him. He knew he was underage but he didn't want to come off as a dork by refusing. He thought it tasted like piss, to be honest, but most everyone else was drinking something he went along and finished off the can.

"Hey, there's my James!" Carlos shouted entering from the balcony connected by a sliding glass door. "Jamie, come join us outside!"

"Yeah, go on, Jamie!" One of the snowboarders said. He pulled out a cigarette. "You want one?"

"No, thanks, man. Can't let anything ruin my voice."

"Whatever." The guy lit his cigarette with a red lighter and puffed his smoke into James's face.

"Hey, Buddy," James said loudly to Carlos who was still standing in the sliding glass doorway.

"C'mon! Join us outside. Logan's out here."

James jumped up eager to get away from the rude smoking snowboarder. Hopefully, there were friendlier people outside. Well, at least Logan and Carlos were out there.

Logan was lounging in a reclining beach chair drinking something out of a plastic cup and laughing loudly.

"Are you drunk?" James asked him quiet enough that hopefully no one else heard.

"What? Me? No!" Logan answered a little loudly. "You should try some of this." He handed his drink to James.

"Oh god, this tastes awful," James said after a rather large gulp. "Get me one!" He exclaimed. Five seconds later a clear plastic cup was pushed into his hand by who he did not know.

"I wish Kendall was here," Logan said. "He loves Jo more than he does us."

"Jo is his girlfriend. We're just his best friends." James sat down in the beach chair next to Logan.

"Best friends are more important than girlfriends."

"Don't let Camille hear you say that."

"Oh Camille," Logan drawled out. "I do love that crazy girl."

"Haha, she is crazy."

"Don't tell her I said this, but I love it when she slaps me."

"You get off on it, don't you?"

Logan blushed a deep scarlet red.

"Aw man. I'm out." He stared into the bottom of his cup. "More please!"

"You know, his girlfriend slaps him," James said to the guy sitting on the other side of Logan whom Logan had been laughing with earlier.

"She does?" The guy asked.

"Yeah, like this." Logan reached his hand back and slapped James on the cheek.

"Logan!"

"James!" Carlos chose that moment to bounce onto his best friend, hitting him in the mouth with his helmet causing James to drop his beverage.

"Carlos!" James ripped the helmet off his friend's head and threw it in the pool.

"James!" Carlos shouted this time angrily. He leapt off James's lap and jumped into the pool. Once he retrieved his helmet he threw it at James hitting him squarely in the chest.

"Hey!" James jumped up from the chair and tackled Carlos who had just climbed out of the pool. The two began rolling around the balcony grabbing shirt and hair in fight.

"Oh, this is good," Logan said sarcastically.

"Ooooh," James moaned the next morning. He opened his eyes and quickly closed them. His mouth hurt, his chest hurt, and his arms hurt. What happened last night? "Stop it!" He shouted softly as his phone began to ring. He didn't want to answer it, but he saw the number was Lucy so he picked it up anyway. "'Erro?"

"James?"

"Lucy?" James sat up too quickly, immediately regretting his decision. Nausea rose in his stomach.

"James?" She repeated. "Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong," he laughed nervously.

"You were supposed to call me last night. Now, I'm not the nagging girlfriend who has to know where her boyfriend is every second of the day, but it's not like you to not call when you say you will."

Anything that could make his headache worse that was it.

"Carlos's friends had a party."

"And you went to it?"

"Yes."

"Great! How was it?"

"I—" James paused. He couldn't remember. He remembered walking into the house and that was it.

"James, did you get drunk? Are you hungover?"

"Are you mad?"

"No, I'm not mad. Just don't do anything stupid, okay? Wait, who am I talking to? You guys don't need to be drunk to do stupid things."

"Hey! I take offense to that."

"You know you. It's the truth."

"Fine. Good thing you're not my mom. If she found out I got drunk at a party she'd be here in a flash snatching my butt up and taking me back to Minnesota with her, doesn't matter that I'm an adult and my own legal guardian."

"Your mom sounds like a witch."

"Oh, she's not. She's a nice woman, just very…controlling and she hates the word 'no.'"

"Oh, well, I'll let you go recover from your hangover."

"Thanks. Y'know, I'd recover better if you were here."

"I'm sure you would. Love you, James."

"Love you, too, Lucy." After hanging up the phone he dropped it on the floor and then moaned. During the conversation his headache had gotten worse. It went from a single solitary drummer to the marching of an entire band in his head.

"Logan!" He whined holding his aching head in his hands as he stumbled his way from his bedroom to across the hall where Logan's bedroom was. The door was closed but James felt nothing like knocking so he just barged in.

"The dreaded effects of the hangover," Logan announced. He was sitting on his bed not reading the book lying next to him.

"What happened last night?" James fell onto Logan's bed almost hitting his head on Logan's legs. Logan curled his legs up to give James more room.

"You don't remember?"

"No, do you?"

"Yeah, I wasn't as drunk as you. You know the saying 'beer before liquor, never sicker.'"

"Is that true?"

"Well, it depends on the person so probably not, but you did drink an awful lot. You don't remember anything from last night?"

"Not a thing."

"You came onto the balcony to talk to me and got in a fight with Carlos. It's so bad he didn't come home last night."

* * *

**The only indication of ages we've been given (or that I can remember): Logan is at least 15 in the pilot because he has his learner's. In Big Time Mansion Kendall says he is 16. In a season 3 episode Katie says she is in the 7****th**** grade. For some reason I want to say she says she is 10 in a season 1 episode but I can't recall which one or if I made that up (and I didn't as I saw it's in Big Time Hollywood Fever. Buddha Bob asks her some economics question and she responds that she's only 10 so how would she know?). In season 4 Katie is studying George Washington and since the boys aren't studying anything this leads me to believe it is not summer and they are no longer in school (I think in Big Time Tour Bus they are taking a two week radio tour during the spring). While one can quit school at the age of 16 in the US, I doubt Nick would want to portray that so it leads me to believe they are at least 18 here. Is there anything else that leads us to more definite or different answers? I just want to make sure I get the ages right.**


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